INSECTA MADERENSIA. 319 



rostrum than is the case with the M. Maclerensis, — the rostrum itseK moreover 

 being less perceptibly expanded at the point of insertion. It is, apparently, 

 extremely local, and attached exclusively, so far as I have hitherto observed, to 

 the gigantic Tree-Euphorbia {Euphorbia mellifera, Linn. Phil.) of lofty altitudes, — 

 beneath the bark of which it would seem to be found in certain spots in the 

 utmost profusion. The only occasion on which I have detected it was on the 

 17th of June 1850, in the extraordinary Euphorbia p)lantation (upwards of 5000 

 feet above the sea) on the descent of the mountain-road leading from the Lagoa of 

 the Eanal towards Porto Moniz, — ^where it existed in the greatest abundance. 



§ II. AntenncB longiusculw ; rostrum in marihus ante medium (ad antennartim insertionem) evidenter 



ampliatvm. 



244. Mesites Maderensis, Woll. 

 M. sublinearis nigro-piceus subconvexus, prothorace profundius punctate longitudinaliter obscure 

 carinato, elytris crenato-stiiatis subtllissime pubescentibus, interstitiis planis minute punctulatis, 

 antennis pedibusque rufo-piceis. 

 Var. ^. plerumque minor, plus minusve ferrugineus, capite, scutello, et interdum etiam elytrorum 

 sutura paulo obscurioribus. 

 Long. corp. lin. mas, 2|-6 : foem., 3-5. 



Habitat in Maderse sylvis editioribus, sub cortice arborum laxo, sestate vulgaris : per regionem Fana- 

 lensem prsecipue abundat, qua mense Julio a.d. 1850 copiosissime legi. 



M. sublinear, dark piceous, almost opake, more convex than the last species. Forehead, in both 

 sexes, roughly punctured and grooved between the eyes. Prothorax very coarsely punctured, 

 the punctures being somewhat larger than in the M. Euphorbia ; also with a deep central de- 

 pression behind (in front of the scutellum), as in that insect ; and with a slightly more distinct, 

 unpunctm-ed keel down the centre. Elytra almost imperceptibly pubescent; deeply crenate- 

 striated ; with the interstices flattened and rather more distinctly punctulated than in the last 

 species. Antenna and lec/s rufo-piceous ; the fonner with their club more or less ferruginous. 



Male, with the rostrum as in the last species, only more distinctly dilated at the point of insertion 

 of the antennoe, — which are placed nearer to the apex than to the base. 



Female, with the rostrum as in the last species. 



Var. /3. usually of a smaller size, and of a more or less dull ferruginous hue, — the head, the scutellum, 

 and sometimes also the elytral suture, being alone obscurely darker. 



The larger size, convexer body, and longer antennae of the present Mesites, in 

 addition to the differences already pointed out in the male rostrum, will serve to 

 separate it, even prima facie, from the last. Its habits moreover are of a less 

 local character, since it does not appear to confine its ravages to any particular 

 tree, — although most partial to the various kinds of laurel with which the elevated 

 sylvan districts of Madeira principally abound. Like the 31. Euphorbia, it is 



