472 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



363. Rhyzobius litura. 



R. testaceus, abdomine nigro, elytris vcl ultra medium nigro-fasciatis, vel omnino immaculatis. 



Far. /3. rufo-testaceus, elytris obscurioribus. 



Long. Corp. lin. 1 j-li. 



Mfidula litura, Fab. Manf. Ins. i. 52 (1787). 

 Ehyzehius litura, Stepli. 77/. Brit. Ent. iv. 396 (1831). 

 Nundina litura, Dej. Cat. (3*^-°' edit.) 462 (1837). 

 Rhizohiui litura, Mulsant, Securip. de France, 262 (1846). 



Habitat in insulis Maderensibus, ad graminum radices vel sub lapidibus, ubique \-ulgaris : var. ^. ad 

 Desertam Grandem priecipue pertinet. 



R. elliptical, testaceous, slightly shining, and pubescent. Head and prothorax immaculate. Elytra 

 with an arcuated interrupted fascia, common to both, a little beyond the middle (but which 

 however is sometimes altogether obsolete), black. Abdomen blackish. Antenna and legs scarcely 

 paler than the rest of the surface. 

 Var. /3. rufo-testaceous ; with the elytra a good deal clouded, or obscured. 



A common insect, at the roots of grass and beneath stones, in nearly all the 

 islands of the group, especially at intermediate altitudes. It is, nevertheless, 

 found occasionally even on the level of the shore, — ^under which circumstances it 

 occurs in Porto Santo, amongst Arundo doiiax, on the loose sand behind the sea- 

 beach. The specimens {cur. /3.) from the Dezerta Grande are rather darker in 

 colotu'ini? than the Madeiran ones. It is abundant throughout the whole of 

 Europe, the north of Africa, and in the Canaries. The Madeiran state differs in 

 no respect from the ordinary one, except that it is perhaps a little more pubescent. 



Fam. 43. CORYLOPHID^. 



Genus 156. CLYPEASTER. (Tab. X. fig. 4.) 



(.Viidersch, in Dej. Cat. A.D. 1821) Eedtenbacher, Fna Austr. 572 (1849). 



Corpus minutum, ovale, pubescens, subdepressum : prothorace amplo semi-ovato, ad basin eh'trorum 

 latitudine, angulis posticis rectis, ad lutcra ct (prajsertim) antice valde explanato-producto (caput 

 oniuiuo tegcnte) : elytris apice truncatis (anguhs suturalibus subrotuudatis) : alis amplissimis 

 ciliatis. Antenrus (X.4a) prothoracis longitudinc, valde clavata;, articulis primo et secundo (illo 

 prsecipue) elongatis robustis, inde ad sextum minutis longitudine suba;qualibus latitudine levitcr 

 crcscentibus, septimo et octavo latioribus transversis, rcliquis clavam magnam subfissilcm tri- 

 articulatam efficientibus (nono magno semigloboso, decimo brevi transverso, undecimo buic vix 

 longiore sed paulo angustiore et apice valde truncato). Labrum (X. 4i) magnum coriaceum 

 transversum, antice Icviter bilobum. Mandibulce (X. 4 c) validic lata;, apice dentibus tribus vel 

 quatuor armata;, intus membrana angusta auctse.. Maxilla (X. 4 d) lobo singula recto angusto 

 (ad apicem tri- vel quadri-uncinato) instracts {interna obsoleto). Palpi breves crassi ; niaxillares 

 fusiformes, articulo primo parvo, secundo et tertio majoribus incrassatis, ultimo paulo longiore 



