Sii INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



A good deal allied to the last species, from which however it differs iu its larger 

 size, broader, somewhat more elliptical and depressed body, in its less distinct 

 prothoracic punctures, obscurer colour, and in its almost opake surface. It is 

 exceedingly rare, and, like the C. ChevrolatU, confined to the sylvan regions of a 

 high elevation, — where it is found beneath decaying logs, and under chippings of 

 wood, dui'ing the summer months. I have captm-ed it on the Lombo das Vacas 

 in June ; and, more abimdantly, at the Lombo dos Pecegueu'os in July. 



240. CaiUotnipis conicoUis, WoU. 



C. obpyriformis aeneus (vel nigro- vel violaceo-aeneus) nitidus, prothorace conico fere impunctato, 

 elytris convexis postice substriatis, antennis breviusculis ferrugineis, pedibiis rufo-piceis. 

 Var. /3. vix major, prothorace minus conico, punctis, elytrorumque striis paulo distinctioribus. 

 (Ins. Deserta Grandis.) 

 Long. Corp. lin. 1|-2|. 



Habitat in graminosis Maderse, sub lapidibus truncisque arborum prolapsis, usque ad 3000' s. m., 

 toto anno passim : var. /3. (ins. Desertam Graudem nisi fallor solam colcns) fortasse alteram 

 speciem constituat, nam ex unico speciminc immaturo vix satis adjudicare licet : an igitur species 

 sit vera egomct affirmare nequeo, sed credo earn ad C. conicoUem tantum 2)ertinere. 



C. obpyriform (i. e. inverted pear-shaped), aeneous, sometimes with either a violet or piceous tinge, 

 and shining. Protlwrax conical (being wide behind and narrowed in front, with the sides 

 straight) ; almost impunctate, though with very faint indications of punctures anteriorly and at 

 the lateral edges, especially the former. Elytra convex ; striated behind, but nearly unsculptm-ed 

 in front; broadest a little before the middle. Antenna shortish, and pale-ferruginous. Legs 

 rufo-piccous. 

 Var. /3. a little larger, and less pyriform (the prothorax not being quite so conical, nor the elytra so 

 suddenly expanded before the middle), and with the prothoracic punctures and elytral striae, 

 especially the latter, rather more distinct. (The state peculiar to the Dezerta Grande.) 



One of the most singular and characteristic of all the Madeiran Coleopterous 

 insects, and easUy recognized from the other Caidotnqndes here described by its 

 obpyriform outline (in which it resembles some of the members of the genus 

 Apion), conical prothorax, more convex elytra (which are suddenly expanded a 

 little before the middle), and by its almost unsculptm'cd siu'face. So remarkable 

 is its general contour, that it might almost be supposed, at first sight, to embody 

 the type of a separate genus ; nevertheless a closer inquiry into its structiu-e and 

 liabits proves it to be an imdoubted Caulotnipis. Like the C. l/icifiiffiis, it seems 

 to be principally confined to grassy spots of low and intermediate altitudes, re- 

 siding either beneath stones in exposed localities, or else (as in the north of the 

 island) under logs of wood in the vicinity of vineyards and other cultivated 

 groimds. I have taken it, during the autmnual and winter months, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Funchal, — especially to the eastward of the town (towards the Brazen 



