210 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



articulations of thcii- feet, as ■well as in their general habits, they are more inti- 

 mately related to Saprhms. It is somewhat remarkable that a group so \ndely 

 and uniformly distributed throughout northern and central latitudes as Sister is, 

 and indeed over a great portion of the knowTi world, shoiild be but sparingly 

 indicated in islands only just removed from the Em-opean continent ; for in Ma- 

 deu'a proper not so much as a single species has hitherto come beneath my notice, 

 — a solitary specimen of the IT. major, fi'om the sea-shore of Porto Santo, con- 

 stituting its soIq claims to admission into our fauna at all. 



166. Hister major. 



H. oblongo-subquadratus ater nitidissimus, prothorace intra latera unistriato necnon ad latera pills 

 fulvis dense ciliato, elytro singulo striis quatuor (tribus fere rectis sed externa flexuosa fracta) 

 impresso, abdomine crebre punctnlato, antennarum articulo ultimo fulvo. 



Long. Corp. lin. 5i. 



Sister major, Linii. Si/st. ^at. ii. 566 (1767). 



, Fab. Enf. Si/st. i. 72 (1792). 



, Payk. Mon. Hist. 11. tab. ii. fig. 3 (1811). 



, Heer, Fim Col. IMu. i. 4-52 (1841) 



Habitat per oraiu niaritimam Portus Sancti, semel tantum (a.d. 1848) repertus. 



H. somewhat squarisb-oblong, intense black, exceedingly highly polished, and with the faintest 

 possible indications (rather more apparent however towards the sides) of minute punctures 

 throughout. Prothorax with a deep submarginal stria on either side, and with the lateral and 

 front edges (particularly the former) densely fringed with long fulvous pile ; and with a row of 

 punctures along the extreme hinder margin, — which however are almost evanescent in the 

 middle, though extremely evident midway between the centre and sides. Elytra very obliquely 

 truncated behind ; and with four somewhat lightly impressed strife do\TO the outer disk of each, 

 extending nearly to the apex, — of which the three inner ones are nearly straight, and that 

 towards the margin greatly flexuose, and broken in the centre by a small oblique intersecting 

 line. Abdomen closely and rather deeply punctulated. Antenrue shghtly piceous, with their 

 apical joint fulvous. 



The deeply bilobed upper lip of this large and well-marked Ulster, — in which it 

 recedes from the ordinary generic type, — in conjimction ^\ith the bright fulvous 

 pile Avith Avhich the edges of its prothorax are densely fringed, will at once serve, 

 even alone, to identify it from the remainder of the family here described. The 

 only specimen which has hitherto come under my obserAation in these islands was 

 captured by myself on the beach of Porto Santo, in 1818. It is an insect which 

 does not appear to be found in northern Europe, being more especially peculiar to 

 maritime spots of Mediterranean latitudes. In the south of Prance and Spain it 

 is exceedingly common ; and it occurs also in the north of ^\irica and in the 

 Canarian group : and it is recorded by Linnaeus as having been received even 

 fi'om India. 



