466 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



Fam., prothorace nigra, marginem versus anticum solum rufo-ferrugineo, femorum basi nigrescente. 

 Var. /3. maculis (in utraque sexu) confluentibus et per elytra dififusis, sutura (prresertim ad seutellum) 

 solil paulo obscuriore. 

 Long. Corp. lin. l-l:j. 



Habitat in hortis Madcrfc, prajsertim super folia Durantce Plumieri, Linn,, in boreali praedominans : 

 etiam ad Feijaa de Corte, Augusto ineuntc a.d. 1850, pauca spccimina inveui, 



S. black, and exceedingly pubescent. Elytra with two large, more or less distinct patches on each 

 (the anterior one being the largest, and oblique, — but neither of them extending to the outer 

 margin) rufous, or rufescent. Head, antennce, tibia and tarsi more or less brightly rufo- 

 ferruginous. 



Male, with the prothorax, and the legs, almost entirely pale rufo-ferruginous. 



Female, with the 'pruthorax black, except the anterior margin, and sometimes the extreme lateral 

 edges, — which are obscure rufo-ferruginous : and with the femora, except at their apex, black. 



Var. j3. with the patches of the elytra (in both sexes) enlarged and suffused, — covering more or less 

 of the entire sm-face, except the suture, which (especially about the region of the seutellum) is 

 obscurer. 



A large and distinct Scymnus, slightly resembling the European ^S*. quadrilunu- 

 latiis, though receding from it in its greater bulk, broader and rounder outline, 

 and more pubescent surface, in its differently-formed patches, universally pale 

 head, and in the more or less ferruginous prothorax of its males. From aU the 

 varieties of the S. marginalis it may be at once known by its superior size and 

 somewhat denser pubescence, by the peculiar coloration of its prothorax, and by 

 the four large blotches of its elytra. It is not an uncommon insect, diu-iug the 

 svmimer months, especially in the north of the island, — making its appearance 

 about the latter end of June. In the vicinitv of Funchal it is rather scarce, never- 

 theless I have taken it sparingly in Aoneyards at a short distance above the town. 

 In gardens at Sao Vincente, however, it is comparatively common ; where, at the 

 beginjiing of July 1850, I observed it in profusion on the foliage of the Diiranta 

 Plumieri and of a species of Hibiscus. Nor indeed is it confined exclusively to 

 the inhabited districts ; since, in August of the same year, a few specimens occm*red 

 to me even in the remote region of the Feijaa de C6rte, 



358. Scjrmnus marginahs. 

 S. nigcr, elytro singulo macula magna subtriangulari (ab angulo humcrali fere margiuis medio ad 

 basin acccdente) rufa ornato, antennis, ore, tibiis tarsisque testaceis. 

 Mas, paulo minor, capite, prothoracis lateribus, pedibusque omnino, testaceis. 

 Fcem., capite prothoraceque nigris, femorum basi nigrescente. 



Var. |3. maculis (in utroque sexu) per elytra postice diffusis, sutura maculaque magna subtriangulari 

 basali communi solum nigresceutibus. 

 Long. Corp. lin. |-1. 



