INSECTA MADERENSIA. 261 



racteristics would seem to be outline and sculptiu-e, — whilst size and colour are 

 apparently the least to be depended upon : and hence trifling differences may be 

 often of speciiic indication in the former case, where in the latter much larger 

 ones are worthless. 



A. Anteniice hasi approximated. 



§ I. Corpus plus minusve oblonc/um pubescens alatum, prothorace gibhoso ad basin valde constricto, scutello 

 distincto : antenncB Jiliforines : tarsi longiusculi JtUformes, articulo primo leviter elongato. (Ptini 

 per Eiiropce partem majorem typici). 



198. Ptinus advena, WW. 



P. ferrugineus valde (prsesertim in prothorace) subsetuloso-pubescens, scutello squamis subfulveseenti- 

 cinereis tecto, elytris ellipticis punctato-striatis, antennis pedibusque elongatis graciUbus parce 

 squamosis. 



Long. Corp. lin. 1|. 



Habitat in domibus Maderse, rarissimus : exemplar uuicum, a Rev''" Dom. Lowe ad Sanctum Vincen- 

 tium captum, solum vidi. 



P. ferruginous, and densely beset (especially on the prothorax) with a long, stiff, suberect, robust, 

 somewhat setiform, and rather ragged pile. Pj-uthorax gibbous (but scarcely subnodulose) on 

 the fore-disk; and suddenly and greatly constricted behind. Scutellum distinct and round; and 

 clothed with brownish-, or rather yellowish-cinereous scales. Elytra almost elliptical (being but 

 very slightly more acuminated behind than before) ; and punctate-striated. Antenna and legs 

 elongated and slender, and rather sparingly clothed with dull yellowish-cinereous scales ; the 

 former filiform, with their apical joint acute; the latter with their tarsi narrow, — the basal 

 articulation being distinctly longer than any of the following three. 



A Ptinus of the ordinary northern mould, and one in fact of the common type 

 of form which is so constantly liable to transmission throughout the civUized 

 world ; nevertheless, not having been able to identify it with any of the species to 

 which I have had access, I have been compelled to describe it as new. It 

 possesses, in conjimction with the P. mauntanicus, abundant characteristics (as, 

 for instance, its comparatively large, pubescent, and more oblong body, distinctly 

 developed scutellum and wings, its gibbous and posteriorly constricted prothorax, 

 and the subelongated basal joint of its tarsi) which will at once separate it from 

 the other members of the group with which we have here to do ; — whilst from that 

 insect in particular its coucolorous, ferruginous hue, and its slenderer and more 

 filiform antennae and feet will immediately remove it. It is apparently exceed- 

 ingly rare, the only specimen which I have seen having been captured in the north 

 of the island, at Sfio Viucente, by the Rev. R. T. Lowe. 



199. Ptinus mauritanicus. 



P. piceo-niger, prothorace (fortiter quadrituberculato) scutelloque squamis cinereo-fulvescentibus varic- 



