CANARIAN COLEOPTBRA. 143 



very faintly expressed, is rarely quite absent in perfectly matured 

 specimens. From the European A. unifasciata (which in colouring it 

 slightly resembles) it is abundantly distinct, in all its features ; but 

 with the A. contaminata of Erichson it may perhaps have a greater 

 affinity. It is tiniversal throughout the archipelago. I have taken 

 it (more or less abundantly) in the whole of the seven islands except 

 Fuerteventura ; and there is a single specimen now before me which 

 I have found amongst the Coleoptera collected by Mr. Gray in that 

 island. It is clearly more common in the central and western por- 

 tions of the Group than in the eastern ones, and more general in 

 subsylvan spots of intermediate elevations than elsewhere. It oc- 

 curs, however, in the lowest districts also ; but I have not detected it 

 hitherto above the altitude of about 2500 feet. Thus, in Lanzarote, 

 I have captured it near Haria ; in Grand Canary, throughout the 

 region of El Monte ; in Teneriffe (where it was found also by Dr. 

 Crotch), around S*" Cruz, the Puerto Orotava, the Ag-ua Garcia, Sou- 

 zal, &c. ; in Gomera, above San Sebastian ; in Palma, on grassy slopes 

 in the eastern Barrancos ; and in Hierro, about Valverde. 



243. Atomaria ruficollis, n. sp. 



A. ovalis, punctata, pube brevissima depressa albida parce vestita ; 

 capite prothoraceque laete ferrugineo-rufis, hoc ad basin ipsissimam 

 vix transversim constricto, ad latera aequaliter rotimdato ; elytris 

 convexis, nigris, ad apicem subacutis et ibidem paulo dilutioribus ; 

 antennis crassis, rufo-ferrugineis ; pedibus rufo-testaceis. — Long. 

 Corp. lin. |. 



Habitat Teneriffam sylvaticam, sub foUis marcidis humi latens. 



In the colouring of its rufous head and prothorax and dark elytra, 

 no less than in its shining and but very slightly pubescent surface 

 and its thickened antennse, the present beautiful and very distinct 

 Atomaria is a good deal suggestive of the European A, nigripennis. 

 It is, however, smaller, and relatively shorter (or more oval) than 

 that insect, its punctation and pubescence are slightly coarser and 

 denser, its prothorax is wider and less constricted behind, and less 

 margined at the sides, and its antennal club is a little more abrupt. 

 It is decidedly rare, and confined (so far as I have observed hitherto) 

 to the sylvan districts of Teneriffe. I have taken it sparingly in the 

 forest, at the edges of the Vueltas, above Taganana ; and (more 

 abundantly), from beneath damp leaves, on the steep, sloping bank 

 immediately to the left of the small waterfall in the wood of Las 

 Mercedes. A single specimen, also from Teneriffe, has lately been 

 communicated by Dr. Crotch. 



