48 



CANARIAN COLEOPTERA. 



some scattered i^unctures at the base. These differences, however, 

 are veiy trifling ; and indeed the Syrian tyjie now before me has its 

 pronotum, as in the state peculiar to the Canaries, totally iinpunc- 

 tured. The species occurs also in Greece ; so that it would seem to 

 be widely spread over Mediterranean latitudes. It is allied to the 

 P. barbarus, Dej. (to which indeed it was referred by M. Bridle), 

 and still more so to the P. hispanicus, from which I am by no means 

 certain that it is really distinct*. Judging from three specimens of 

 the latter at present in my possession (one of which has been for- 

 warded by Dr. Schaum, whilst the other two were captured by the 

 E,ev. Hamlet Clark at Granada), the Canarian insect differs almost 

 solely in having its prothorax invariably impunctured behind, and 

 the striae of its elytra a little deeper and more perceptibly cretiulated. 



The P. longulus abounds in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (in both 

 of which it was taken by M. Hartung, Mr. Gray, and myscK), and is 

 likewise found, though more sparingly, in Grand Canary and Tene- 

 riffe. In the two former it is universal, occurring at all elevations ; 

 and indeed, on the 11th of March 1859, I met with it even in the 

 little island of Graciosa, off the extreme north of Lanzarote : but in 

 Grand Canary it is apparently more local, being nearly confined (so 

 far as observed hitherto) to sandy spots about Las Palmas and the 

 Puerto da Luz. In Teneriffe I have not myself noticed it ; but it 

 has been communicated from thence by the Barao do Castello de 

 Paiva ; and I have also received a specimen from Dr. Schaum, which 

 he obtained from Professor Heer and which is stated to be TenerifFan. 

 It was collected by M. Hartung, and differs from the ordinary ex- 

 amples in having its prothorax more rounded at the sides, with the 

 hinder angles consequently more obtuse, and with the outer basal 

 fovea almost obsolete, and in its elytral striae being uncrenulated. 

 I can scarcely believe, however, that it is more than an accidental 

 aberration, or at the utmost a local variety. 



That this insect is the one referred to in M. Hartung's catalogue 



* There would seem, however, to be a small cluster of nearly allied species, or 

 forms, of this immediate type, peculiar to these latitudes. My P. haligcna, from 

 the Salvao;es, is another of them, and is closely related to the Canarian one: 

 ncvertlieless it is rather smaller ; its prothorax is sliorter and narrower, with tlic 

 outer basal impression less distinct, and the dorsal channel more abruptly ter- 

 minated both before and behind ; and the elytra of its female sex are more alu- 

 taceous and opake, witli tlieir stria; finer, and their interstices more depressed. 

 In my description of it [;vV7f ' Journ. of Ent.' i. 87] I contrasted it (as now) with 

 its Canarian ally, but alluded to the latter as the "P. canarkn&is, Brulle." On 

 a more careful inspection, liowever, I perceive that so far as the name is concerned 

 I was mistaken, — M. Brulle's Feronia ravariensis being apparently a totally dif- 

 ferent insect. 



