346 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



268. Tychius filirostris, TT'oU. 



T. oblongo-ovatus piceus, squamis subflavescenti-albidis subsericeis densissime tectus, prothorace 

 profunde punctate, elytris crenato-striatis, interstitiis impunctatis, rostro antennisquc fen-u- 

 gineis, illo tenuissimo sulculis punctatis ad basin longitudinaliter instructo, pcdibus ferrugineis 

 squamosis, oculis panis subrotundatis. 



Long. Corp. lin. vix 1^. 



Habitat insulam Portus Sancti ; sub laj)idc ad Zimbral d'Areia Aprili medio a.d. 1849 semel tantuni 

 dctexi. 



T. oblong-ovate ; piceous, and most densely clothed with somewhat silken yellowish-white scales 

 (which arc of a slightly narrower form than those on the T. albosquamosus) . Rostrum long, 

 linear, and excessively slender ; ferruginous, and (except at the extreme base) free from scales ; 

 with several punctured longitudinal sulci, commencing just in front of the base and continued to 

 about the middle, where they gradually cease : eyes small, roundish, and lateral. Pruthurax 

 deeply punctured ; broader than in the T. albosquamosus, but not so broad as in the T. robustus, 

 — being widest behind the middle. Ehjtra not quite so parallel as those of the last species (the 

 humeral angles being more obtuse) ; crenate- striated, and with the interstices impunetate. An- 

 tenme ferruginous, and almost free from scales. Legs (especially the tibia and tarsi) likewise 

 ferruginous, but clothed with scales. 



The excessively delicate and ferruginous rostrum of the present insect, which is 

 indented with sulci towards its base only, added to its paler legs, and small, com- 

 paratively rounded, and more lateral eyes, will be quite sufficient to separate it, 

 prima facie, from either of the other members of the genus here described. In its 

 general aspect it bears a strong resemblance to some of the minute Tychii of more 

 northern latitudes, especially to the T. Junceus, llcich, and the T. Jlavicollis, 

 Stephens. A closer inspection however will not only prove that it is distinct from 

 tliose species, but that it is even moulded on a different type, — its extremely 

 slender and filiform rostrum, with its powerful basal grooves, at once identifying 

 it with the peculiar modification which obtains in the Madeira Islands. Apart 

 from this character, however, which we may almost call a sectional one, the 

 T. Jilifonnis is naiTower than either the T. junceus or the T. flavicoUis, its scales 

 are of a l)roader and rolmster kind, and the interstices of its elytra are unsculp- 

 tured, — whereas in hot It of those insects (particularly the latter) the interstices 

 are strongly puuctiilated. Like the T. albosquamosus, it is hitherto unique, — the 

 only examiile which I have seen haAdng been discovered by myself in Porto Santo, 

 dvu'ing April 1819, in the dry fossiliferous district immediately below the Pico de 

 Baxo (to the north), known as the Zimbral d'Areia, at the mouth of the Piibeiro de 

 Serra de Fora. Considering the barrenness of that calcareous region, and the 

 almost total freedom from vegetation of the spot in which it occurred, its habits 

 are not altogether evident: nevertheless, since the Tychii are usually active at 

 night, it had probably wandered from a distance, and had accidentally taken 

 shelter in tlic position where I found it. 



