1' A M I L Y C U RC U L I O N I DA p: 



451 



the Himalaya. The beetles seetn to prefer wood which has partialh' dried 

 and lost a considerable portion of its sap. To mention a few of the trees in 

 which I ha\e taken species of this family, members are known to infest the 

 deodar, blue pine, spruce, and Pinits longifolia in the Himalaya ; the sal, 

 p\'inkadu, Ficiis elastica, Moms laevigata, and DcjidrocaUuniis strictus in the 

 plains. 



The beetle looks, as I have said, like a cross between a weevil and a 



scolytid, having a generall}' narrow elongate shape with 



Beetle. a pronounced straight beak, the colour black and usually 



shining, with elytra narrowing apically, the apices often 



being elevated, forming a channel ; the elytra may be striate, and set with 



prominent rounded raised rows of shining points. 



Larva.— The grub is white, rather curved, and somewhat corrugated. 



To a certain extent the Cossoninae must be considered as of some import- 

 ance as wood-borers. Further study is, however, required before it is 

 possible to assign to them their real position in the economy of the forest. 



Rhvncholus. 



Rhyncholus himalayensis, Stebbing, sp. nov. 



Reference. — Stebbing, Depart. Xotes {Rhyncholus sp.), i, igS (1903). 



Habitat.— North- West Himalaya. 



Trees Attacked.— Blue Pine {Finns excclsa), Spruce (Picca viorijida), 

 Deodar {Ccdnis dcodara). Jaunsar, Simla, Naini Tal, Chamba. 



Beetle.— Long, narrow, black, shining, with elbowed antennae, the club of antenna 

 pale yellow, and tibiae and tarsus rufous brown with reddish-yellow hairs. Head large, very 



shining, punctate ; rostrum not longer than 

 Description. head, stout, cylindrical, slightly depressed 



downwards ; scrobes narrow, starting near 

 centre of rostrum, and oblique. Antennae start from lower half of 

 rostrum, short, fairly stout ; scape club-shaped at upper end ; 

 funiculus seven-jointed, first joint long, second to seventh very short, 

 increasing in size upwards ; club smallish, oblong-oval, first joint 

 long and reversed-cone-shaped ; others short, spongy, pale yellow in 

 colour. Eyes medium-sized, oval. Prothorax long, slightly conical 

 and rounded on sides, rounded at upper and truncate at basal ends, 

 with a transverse depression just below the upper edge ; coarsely 

 rugose-punctate. Scutellum very small. Elytra long, cyhndrical, 

 rather flattened, slightly wider than prothorax behind, depressed 

 behind, and projecting down laterally below the abdomen towards 

 their extremities on each side, the apex constricted, apices with a 

 crescent-shaped interval between them, the points of the elytra 

 forming the outer horns of the crescent. The elytra bulge laterally 

 on either side into a small projecting point just before the depression commences. Legs short, 

 femora thickened in middle and flat, arched beneath ; tiljiac straight, flattened, and toothed 



1" 1- 2 



Rhyiu/iolits hiDia- 

 layt'iisis, Steb., sp. now 

 North-West Himalava. 



