INSECTA MADERENSIA. 195 



genera as lAtargus and Typhcea, — though it is almost equally impossible to over- 

 look its relationship with LathricUus likewise, to which in its general contour and 

 habits, as well as in the largely-developed penultimate joint of its labial palpi, it 

 makes a decided approach. StUl, its tetramerous feet and pubescent body (the 

 former of which, nevertheless, do not appear to be triartictdate in the anterior 

 male pair), in conjimction Avith its distinctly bilobed maxillte, would seem (in a 

 choice between the two families) to remove it into the Ilycetoplmgicla;, — where 

 indeed it is stationed by Erichson, alongside the genus Typhcea, which is in all 

 probability its most correct position. 



156. Berginus Tamarisci. 



B. suboblongo-cylindricus brunneo-ferrugineus pubescens, capite prothoraceque rugose punctatis, 

 hoc elongato-subquadrato ad latera minutissime crennlato, basi foveola rotundata utrinque 

 impresso, elytris rugose subpunctato-striatis, antennis pedibusque diluto-testaceis. 



Long. Corp. lin. ^1. 



Berginus Tamarisci, Dejean, in lift. 



Habitat in locis subinfevioribus Maderae australis, prsesertim in cultis vix ab urbe Funcbalensi remotis, 

 tempore vernali uon infrequens : in Portu Sancto praedominat, qua Aprili exeunte a.d. 1848 in 

 clivis graminosis mox infra summum ipsum montem Pico de Facho dictum copiose collegi. 



B. elongated, parallel, and rather cylindric, reddish-brown, pubescent, and nearly opake. Head and 

 prothorax rugosely punctured,— the punctures being large, a good deal confluent, and not at all 

 well-defined : the former with the eyes large and prominent : the latter somewhat elongate- 

 quadrate (though with the hinder angles a good deal rounded) and convex; very minutely 

 margined and crenulated at the edges ; and impressed on either side, at the base (towards the 

 posterior angles), with a small, though distinct and rounded fovea. Elytra parallel, rugosely 

 punctate-striated, — the punctures however being even less defined still than those of the head 

 and prothorax ; and with the interstices (especially in front) a little raised. Antennce and legs 

 (particularly the latter) paler, being usually dull rufo-testaceous. 



By no means an uncommon insect thi'oughout the southern districts of Madeii'a, 

 below the elevation of about 800 feet, — though more attached perhaps to the 

 immediate vicinity of Funchal than elsewhere. It occurs principally amongst old 

 wood in waste neglected spots within the cidtivated regions, often frequenting 

 gardens and vineyards, — under which circumstances I have once or twice captured 

 it in that of the Rev. R. T. Lowe at the Levada, where, if I mistake not, it had 

 issued from out of the rotten stalks of the Datura. On the little hill above Santo 

 Antonio, known as the Pico do Cardo, I observed it plentifully, during March 

 1848, in the decayed stump of a tree, in company with the Ftinus longicornis 

 and orhatus : whilst in Porto Santo it is altogether more aloundant, and would 

 seem likewise to be more strictly indigenous, — where, in April and May of the 

 same year, I took it in profusion by brushing the short grass on the mountain- 



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