532 INSECTA MADERENSIA. 



spurs of all their tibiae must tend materially to favoui-. The structure of their 

 tarsi indeed is rather singular, — the hinder pair being unusually produced and 

 setiform, ^ith the articulations gradually diminishing in length ; wliilst the four 

 anterior ones have the penultimate joint minute, and the antepenultimate broadish 

 and sulicordate, and with its under sm-face densely pubescent. The claws are 

 diminutive and simple, — in which last respect (as well as in its freedom from an 

 abdominal style) the group recedes from Mordella. 



403. Anaspis Proteus, WoU. 

 A. rufo-testaceus, capitis parte postica, interduin prothoracis disco, elytrorum sutur^, macula basali 

 triaugulari commuui fasciaque media (saepe in medio interrupta), et antennarum articulo ultimo 

 plus minusve nigrescentibus, antennis brevibus compactis, 

 Var. /3. fere niger (i. e. maculis fasciisque maximis confluentibus), ore, antennis (articulo apicali 

 excepto), pedibus anticis, et tibiis tarsisque posterioribus solum pallidis. 

 Long. corp. lin. 1-li. 



Habitat in floribus, prsesertim Umbelliferis, omnium insularum IMaderensium a verno tempore usque 

 ad jestatem vulgaris, in Portu Sancto prfedominans. 



A. elliptical, and minutely pubescent. Head and prothorax more or less rufo-testaceous ; the former 

 with the hinder half usually darker (rarely altogether pale) ; the latter with the disk sometimes 

 infuscatcd or blackish, or with an indistinct transverse cloud, — nevertheless, in the normal state, 

 usually pale. Elytra (typically) of a paler testaceous than the liead and prothorax, with the 

 suture, a large basal triangular patch (common to both) about the scutellum, and a more or less 

 developed transverse medial fascia or cloud (usually ill-dcfiued, and interrupted in the centre) 

 blackish. Antcnnce short and compact ; their terminal articulation, and the spines at the apices 

 of the tibicE and of the tarsal joints (especially in the posterior legs), black. 

 Var. /3. almost entirely black (the patches and fascise being so largely developed as to be confluent 

 and to cover the greater portion of the surface), the mouth, antenna (except the dark apical joint, 

 and sometimes the subapical ones also), the two front legs, and the tibia and tarsi (except the 

 black spines at the extremity of the former and at the apices of the joints of the latter, — which 

 is the case, though in a less degree, in the anterior pair like^^•ise) of the four hinder ones, being 

 alone pale. (Even in the darkest varieties, however, very obscure indications may generally be 

 detected of four rufesccnt dashes on the elytra, the black portions being seldom so greatly 

 increased as to obliterate all traces of the usual law of colouring.) 



A most unstable insect, in point of coloiuiug (as will be perceived by a glance 

 at the diagnosis), and apparently tlistinct from any European species hitherto 

 described. Its small bulk, added to its short and exceedingly compact antennae 

 (which, throughout all the phases, retain their apical joint dark), should be espe- 

 cially noticed, as serving, amongst other characters, to separate it from its more 

 northern allies. So great are the changes of hue through which it passes, that at 

 first sight it would seem to vary from a imiform testaceous into a deep black. 

 Such however is not in reality the case (as a closer examination will prove), seeing 



