Coleopterological Notices, V. 357 



THECTUROTA n. gen. 



The body is extremely slender, parallel and subdepressed. Head 

 large, flat, slightly broader toward base, the eyes small, far before 

 the middle and slightly prominent. Antennae short, feebly incras- 

 sate. Mentum small, transverse. Ligula with the apical process 

 short, cylindrical, thin and perfectly simple, the labial palpi three- 

 jointed, with the first joint nearly as long as the next two, cylin- 

 drical ; second thinner, longer than wide; third still more slender 

 and a little longer than the second. Maxillae well developed, the 

 cardo large, the lobes very small, short, the palpi small, the third 

 joint but slightly longer than the second, but thick and obconical ; 

 fourth distinct, oblique. Gular sutures long, straight and parallel ; 

 infralateral carina wholly obsolete. Prothorax slightly narrowed 

 toward base, the hypomera visible from the side. Middle coxae 

 moderately large, contiguous, the mesosternal process very slender 

 and acute. Metasternum large, the side-pieces rather narrow, par- 

 allel anteriorly but with the inner line approaching the elytra pos- 

 teriorly, becoming very acute and narrow at the elytral apex. Legs 

 very short; tarsi short and stout, plainly 4-4-5-jointed, the first four 

 joints of the posterior equal, short, thick, the last moderate iu length ; 

 claws moderate, slender, evenly arcuate. 



The extremely small and slender forms referred to this genus 

 remind us of Hydrosmecta Thorns., but are allied closely to Thec- 

 tura, and resemble the latter in the peculiar posteriorly attenuate 

 met-episterna, but differ in the complete absence of any of the 

 caudal spines so characteristic of that genus. Several of the spe- 

 cies have a deep transverse pit at the extreme base of the occiput, 

 and the types of one or two have the head thrown back slightly, 

 obscuring this part, but it is probably a generic character. In 

 Hydrosmecta subtilissivia the middle tarsi are five-jointed, and 

 the gular sutures converge from the base. 



The species of Thecturota are among the smallest, and are prob- 

 ably the most slender, of the Aleocharini ; they will prove to be 

 tolerably numerous, and the four in my cabinet may be separated 

 by the following characters : — 



Head gradually perceptibly wider behind, the eyes very small and the upper 



surface coarsely and distinctly punctured tcnilissillia 



Head parallel or very nearly so, tlie eyes larger and the surface finely, feebly 

 and very indistinctly punctate. 



