228 PENTAPLATARTHRUS VAN DAMII, 



NOTE XXXVIl. 



DESCRIPTION or A NEW PAÜSSIÜ 

 FROM SOUTH-AFRICA. 



BY 



J. R. H. NEERVOORT van de POLL. 



P entaplatarthrus Van Damii, v. d. Poll. 



Pentaplatarthro paussoidi valde ajinis, sed praecipue dif- 

 fert: antennis multo brevioribus, tamen eadem latitudine, 

 corpore subangustiore , colore multo obscuriore {brunneo-nigro, 

 elytris nigris) , sculptura subtiliora. 



Long. 8 mm., lat. 2^/3 mm. 



This species is so closely allied to the well-known P. 

 paussoides Westw., that it will be sufficient to point out 

 the differences. 



About of the same size as P. paussoides, but somewhat 

 more slender; the coloration much darker, being brownish- 

 black with the elytra (the shoulders excepted) deep black ; 

 the punctuation shallower. The principal characteristic 

 however is the shortness of the antennae, which differ 

 one third in length, and although being shorter, remain 

 equally broad , by which they obtain a much more club- 

 like shape. The terminal joint is less rounded, almost 

 straight along the sides , and also less projecting at the tip. 



At first I was inclined to regard this species as one of 

 the sexes of P. paussoides; an investigation of the abdo- 

 mina showed however that, according to the sexes, the 

 antennae do not differ. 



The 9 specimen above described was captured by Dr. B. 

 A. P. van Dam (to whom I have much pleasure in dedi- 

 cating the species) in October 1884, under a stone, near 

 Fauresmith (Orange Freestate). 



Notes from the Leyden JVIuseum, "Vol. VIII, 



