28 [July. 
terminating in a long spine. Legs long, thighs veiy long, compressed and thick- 
ened in the middle, basal joint of tarsi elongated. Sterna narrow. First segment 
of abdomen not longer than the second (<? ). 
N. coptorhina, n. sp. 4^ lines. <J • Tawny-reddish, opaque, clothed with fine 
erect hairs ; apices of antennal joints darker, tips of thighs black. Thorax with 
two broad and shallow longitudinal dorsal channels ; elytra finely punctured. The 
thorax is elongate and depressed, and greatly narrowed from the middle towards 
the hind margin. 
Santarem, River Tapajos, This insect also belongs to the Oracilia 
group. 
Atenizus, n. g. 
Sub-linear, depressed, slender. Maxillary palpi elongated. Muzzle scarcely 
apparent beyond the eyes, the latter large and prominent, coarsely facetted, with a 
slight emargination only in the upper edge ; forehead convex ; head greatly con- 
stricted behind the eyes, forming a distinct neck ; vertex, between the eyes, with a 
large erect tubercle. Antennae filiform, hirsute ; basal joint enlai'ged beneath at 
the apex. Thorax ovate, depressed, sides unarmed. Elytra linear, apex obtusely 
rounded. Legs short, slender, tarsi with the basal joints linear. Anterior and 
middle coxae sub-conical, exserted, contiguous, anterior sockets slightly angular 
externally. 
A. laticeps, n. sp. 2^ — 4| lines. <J $ . Sub-linear, reddish-testaceous ; 
antennce from the third joint brown, bases of joints pale-testaceous. Body and 
limbs finely setose ; head and thorax sparingly punctui-ed ; elytra regularly and 
closely punctured. 
Para and Santarem, Amazons, on dry twigs. Notwithstanding the 
exserted coxae, absence of pro- and meso-sterna between the coxae, and 
elongated labial palpi, I believe the genus to have afl&nity with Smodicum 
and the allied genera. 
Kentish Town : Mwy, 1867. 
A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON THE SYCAMORE-FEEDING NEPTICULA 
DECENTELLA. 
BY H. T. STAINTON, F.E.S. 
Two years ago I received from Herr Anton Schmid, of Frankfort, 
some pupse of this pretty species (Ent. M. Mag., vol. iii., p. 82). I 
have now some further scraps of information respecting the aberrant 
habits of this species which may prove interesting to some of the readers 
of this Magazine. 
Herr Miihlig, of Frankfort, writes to me as follows:— "In 1866 
I had the good luck to breed Nepticula decentella in tolerable plenty ; 
some from larv» which I found at the end of April hanging by long 
threads from the branches of Acer pseudo-platanus (sycamore), some 
from cocoons, which I found on the stems of those trees. Although we 
have not yet ascertained the entire mode of life of these larvae, yet we 
kaow now with certainty that the larva must winter on the tree. The 
