INSECTA MADERENSIA. 411 



spicuous) ; with a small autemcdial patch ou the suture of the shape of an arrow-head, or an 

 inverted V (formed by an oblique spot on each, confluent anteriorly), and a straight postmedial 

 transverse fascia (bounded in front by a darker siibglabrous portion), common to both, more or 

 less obscurely white. Antennca and legs testaceous,- the former being generally more or less 

 darkly infuscated. 



A most interesting little Ajrion, and of an exceedingly indigenous nature. Be- 

 fore I had subjected it to a critical analysis, I had imagined it to be Init a local 

 state of the A. veniale,— to which in its fasciated siu-face and general aspect it 

 bears a certain 2)rlmd facie resemblance : but, apart from its opposite habits, and 

 many minute distinctive features (shortly to be noticed) which had long combined, 

 even before examination, to give it a peculiar character (albeit more easily seen 

 than expressed),— the discovery of the singularly acuminated and subdehiscent 

 structure of the apex of the elytra which is so universal in that insect (and which 

 is not so much as indicated here)' at once removed all doubt as to its true specific 

 clauns. The comparison moreover of a very large series of specimens, coUected in 

 Madeira, Porto Santo, and on the Dezerta Grande, has subsequently convinced me 

 that it is not even so variable as (under the former hyiwthesis) I had concluded it 

 to be,— whilst the arrangement of its scales, as compared with those of such-Uke 

 species generaUy, is in fact remarkably constant. Thus, it is not only smaUer, 

 convexer, thicker and more ovate than the A. vernale, but its prothorax is less 

 sinuated along its posterior margin, has its central fovea very much less evident, 

 and is not more clothed at the sides than elsewhere; whilst its elytra (which, as 

 just stated, are entire at their extremity) are differently colom-ed,- the minute 

 sagittiform, or inverted V-shaped, patch before the middle of the suture, in con- 

 junction with the straightened transverse postmedial fascia, immediately suflacing 

 to identify it. Its legs also are of a purer testaceous hue, and the darker portion 

 of its scales has more or less of an obscure yellowish tinge (which frequently 

 imparts to the entu-e surface a subfeneous cast) ; whHst its antennee are nearly 

 always more decidedly infascated than is the case in that insect. It is principally 

 confined to higher elevations than the A. vernale, and seems to be more especially 

 attached to lichen and dense vegetation on the rocks of intermediate altitudes. 

 Nevertheless it is occasionally to be met with in lower regions, since I have cap- 

 tured it sparingly in gardens near Funchal, and (in the north of the island) in the 

 chestnut-woods of Santa Anna. It is more abundant however in Porto Santo and 

 on the Dezerta Grande than in Madeu-a proper,— where I have taken it in pro- 

 fusion, dm-ing the spring months, from out of the fissm-es of the weather-beaten 

 peaks, as well as in grassy spots m their immediate vicinity. 



315. Apion Malvse. 

 A. nigrum subnitidum, squamis albidis vel subflavescenti-albidis magnis adspersum, rostro bre- 

 viusculo robusto, apicem versus interdum testaceo, prothorace ruguloso-punctato (punctis 



3 G 2 



