OP NEW ZEALAND. 1099 



triaugular, not short. Elytra narrowed posteriorly ; feebly and 

 remotely punctate. Tarsi with three distinct basal joints, the ter- 

 minal elongate. 



Eather larger than the typical species, darker in colom-, not bald, 

 third antennal joint not at all short, sculpture different, obtusely 

 prominent middle basal portion of thorax not covering so much of 

 the scutellum. The antenuce are very much like those of Pycnomerus. 

 Underside coloured like the upper, more conspicuously clothed, with 

 some rather large punctures on the sternum. I examined the tarsi, 

 without dissection, and concluded that the extremity of the tibia 

 conceals the small first joint, four being quite visible from above. 



Length, ^ ; breadth, f line. 



Two examples in my own collection, probably found near Howick. 



Brontopriscus. 



Nov. gen. 

 (Sharp; Trans. Eoy. Dub. Soc, 1886, p. 391.) 



Antennce fractge articulo basali elongato. Elytrorum epipleura 

 lata. Tarsi sat elongati, articulo basale brevissimo (interdum fere 

 omnino nullo). 



When I described Brontes plcuralis I stated that it might be 

 made the type of a new genus, and the discovery of a second species 

 with the peculiarities still more exaggerated renders it advisable 

 that this should now be done. The remarkably broad epipleurae 

 separate the New Zealand genus from the Brontes, both of Europe 

 and Australia, and the tarsi are also much different from the former, 

 though similar to those of the Australian species. The tarsal 

 peculiarities are very interesting, as they differ a little in the two 

 species, and show, as it were, the basal joint in the process of dis- 

 appearing, so as to allow us to understand the occurrence of four- 

 jointed feet in a few of the genera of the family. The basal joint of 

 the foot is very short, while the second is elongate, twice or three 

 times as long as the third, the fourth being very short, and the fifth 

 very elongate ; the articulation between the first and second joints 

 is very oblique, especially on the hind feet, so that the second joint 

 lies on the upper surface of the first, and nearly touches the apex of the 

 tibia; this peculiarity is very distinct in B. plcuralis, but in B. sinu- 

 atus it has gone still farther ; not only is the basal joint still more 

 reduced in size, but the connection between the two is so extremely 

 close that the suture can scarcely be detected, and the tarsi appear 

 tetramerous with an elongate basal joint. 



1954. B. sinuatUS, 'i^-s. (Sharp; Trans. Boy. Dub. See, 1886, 

 p. 392.) Depressus, castaneo-testaceus, opacus, prothorace ubique 

 crebre punctato, lateribus profunde serratis ; elytris ovalibus, humeris 

 sinuatis ; profunde seriatim punctatis, secundum marginem punctis 

 majoribus impressis. 



Long., 8mm. 



This is similar to B. plcuralis, but has important poiuts of differ- 



