i46 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



vicinity of Funchal. In general contour and aifinity, it somewhat approaches the 

 L. Verbasci of more northern latitudes, — though abundantly distinct from it 

 specifically, in size, colour and sculpture. 



340. Longitarsus lutescens. 

 L. elongato-ovatus convexus nitidus tiavo-testaceus, capite vel nigrescente vel infuscato, elytroruiii 



sutura (pra3sertim in disco) femorumque posticorum apice nigris, antennis apicem versus ferru- 



gineis. 

 Long. Corp. lin. l}-!^. 



Haltica lutescens, Gjll. Ins JIuec. iii. 546 (1813). 

 Thyamis lutescens, Steph. III. Brit. Ent. iv. 310 (1831). 

 Longitarsus lutescens, Eedt. Fna Austr. 533 (1849). 



Habitat in graminosis montosis Madera; et Portus Sancti, a vcre novo usque ad autumnum ,<at 

 frequens. 



L. elongate-ovate, convex, shining, and of an exceedingly pale, straw-coloured yellow, or flavo-testa- 

 ceous. Head, especially behind, reddish-brown, or infuscated (rarely black). Elytra with the 

 suture brownish-black (the dark baud being narrow at the base, gradually a little expanded to 

 about (or a trille Ijeyoud) the middle, and suddeuly narrowed and abbrc\-iatcd before reaching 

 the extreme apex), most minutely and obsoletely punctulatcd. Body beneath, and the apical half 

 of the two hinder femora, black. Apices of antenna and tarsi generally femiginous. 



Jvuowu from the rest by its extremely paUid, straw-coloui'ed hvie, — its suture, 

 eyes, and two posterior femora being the only black portions visible from above. 

 This dark sutm-al Hue, moreover, possesses the invariable character of being 

 narrow and almost evanescent at the base, becoming gradually broader to about 

 (or a little beyond) the niidcUc, after which it is suddenly constricted, — leaving the 

 extreme apex free. The head is usually only dusky (being of a slightly reddish- 

 brown behind) ; and the body beneath (the inflected edges of the upper sm*face 

 excepted) is entirely piccous-black. It is probably a truly indigenous insect ; 

 nevertheless, like the L. sallafor, nervosns and nuhigcna, it is of a more orchnary 

 type of form than the remaining two. It occurs both in Madeira and Porto 

 Santo, from the spring to the autumnal months, in grassy spots of intermediate 

 and lofty altitudes. I have brushed it from oif the coarse vegetation which clothes 

 the sides of the Curral das Romeu*as, in October ; as also, in similar positions, in 

 tlie upland region of the Cruzinhas, in July : and, during my fii'st visit to the 

 island of Porto Santo, in April and May of 1848, I observed it in consideral)le 

 abundance on the southern mountain-slopes immediately below the summit of the 

 Pico de Pacho. It tUlfcrs from the ordinary northern type in being, on the average, 

 somewhat larger, in haxing its antenna; perhaps (proportionably) a trifle longer, 

 and in the terminal portion of its hinder thighs being more evidently and inva- 

 rial)lv dark. 



