INSECTA MADERENSIA. 403 



§ I. Rostrum paulo longius et angustius, supra longitudinaliter sulcatum ; oculis ohlongis valde prominen- 



tibus : iarsorum spongim distinetw. 



308. Sitona gressoria. 



S, fusiformi-elongata, squamulis fulvescentibus tecta^ protliorace profunde et rugose punetato, ad 

 latera in medio subampliato-rotundato, elytris profunde punctato-striatis, interstitiis convexis, per 

 suturam stepius densius squamulosis, antennis pedibusque robustis, illis brevibus, his elongatis. 



Long. Corp. lin, 4-4|-. 



Cwreulio gressorius, Eab. Ent. Sgst. i. ii. 465 (1792). 



— , Herbst, Kaf. vi. 493 (1795). 



Sitona gressorius, G-erm. Ins. Spec. i. 416 (1824). 

 , Scliou. Gen. et Spec. Cure. ii. 97 (1834). 



Habitat Maderam, jestate rarior : in castanetis Sanctae Anna; Junio exeuute a.d. 1850 tria specimina 

 cepi. 



S. the largest of the genus, elongate and somewhat fusiform (being acuminated both before and 

 behind), black, and generally rather densely clothed with yellowish-brown or fulvescent scales 

 above, and with paler ones underneath. Rostrum longer and narrower than in any of the follow- 

 ing species, and more grooved (or sulcated) above, — having not only a deeper and broader central 

 channel, but likewise one on either side of it in front of the eyes. Eges large, oblong and pro- 

 minent. Prothorax deeply and roughly punctured (the punctures being often a good deal con- 

 fluent, and not very well defined) ; rounded at the sides, — the widest part being about the centre, 

 at which point it is generally slightly angulated ; with a conspicuous pale line down the disk, 

 and with usually only very obscure indications of one on either side. Elytra deeply punctate- 

 striated, wdth the interstices convex, and with the suture generally a little paler than the rest of 

 the surface. Antenna short and rather robust (and with their scape more perceptibly flexuose, 

 and more gradually thickened towards its apex, than in any of the other species). Legs long 

 (the intermediate pan being rather the shortest) ; with their tarsi large and distinctly cushioned 

 beneath. 



An insect of Mediterranean latitudes, and the largest of all the SttoncB hitherto 

 described. It recedes in so many respects from the normal members of the group 

 as to have been originally regarded by Schonherr as the type of a separate genus 

 (tmder the name of Charagmiis), which, however, in his Genera et Sj^ecies Curcu- 

 Uonklum, he afterwards suppressed. Independently of its bulk, it may be at once 

 known from its allies with which we have here to do, by its fusiform outline, by 

 its more produced, proportionably narrower and deeply sulcated rostrum, by its 

 oblong eyes, by the sides of its prothorax being subangulated in the centre, by 

 the coarse sculptui'c and convex interstices of its elytra, by its rather short and 

 thickened antennae (the scape of which is slightly flexuose, and more gradnally 

 incrassated towards its apex), and by its exceedingly elongated legs. It occurs 

 throughout southern Eiu*ope (being recorded in Italy, France and Portugal) and 

 in the Canary Islands, but does not appear to extend into boreal, or even sub- 



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