174 CANARIAN COLEOPXERA. 



angles nevertheless more rigidly defined) ; its four hinder tibiae have 

 their spines shorter, and less concentrated towards the outer extremity; 

 and the front pair have their terminal spur (instead of being obsolete) 

 well defined, and (although not large) subflexuose. 



Hitherto I have seen but three specimens of the >S'. ignohilis. Thev 

 were all taken by Mr, Gray near Arrecife, in Lanzarote, — by whom 

 one of them has been presented to the British Museum collection. 



b. Fronte a clijpeo lined (vel carina) transversa plus minus 

 distinctd divisd. 



286. Saprinus minyops, n. sp. 



S. niger (vix obsoletissimc subsenescens), nitidus ; fronte semicircu- 

 lari, grosse marginata, carina transversfl recta sed utriuque minute 

 sinuata, angulis ipsis prominulis subacutis (oculos parvos occultan- 

 tibus), minutissime punctulata ; prothorace leviter (pra^sertim in 

 disco) punctulato, intra angulos anticos (obtusos) hand impresso ; 

 elytris minute et parce punctulatis, antice paulatim lajvioribus (sed 

 etiam ibidem, oculo fortiter armato, minutissime punctulatis), striis 

 minute crenulatis, humerali a subhumerali disjuncta, l-3tiam dorsa- 

 libus fere ad medium postiee eontinuatis, 4''' plus minus interrupta 

 breviore ; prosterno subsinuato, lineis subapproximatis, antice fere 

 paralleHs, ad apicem vix sed ad basin paulo divergentibus ; meso- 

 et meta-sternis subconvexis, parce (pi'SJcipue hoc) et leviter punc- 

 tatis, illo angulis anticis obtusis ; antennis brevibus pedibusque 

 piceis ; tibiis anticis circa 6-dentatis, posterioribus versus apicem 

 longe spinuloso-ciliatis ; calcaribus parvis, anticis obsoletis. — Long. 

 Corp. lin. f- 1^. 



Habitat Lanzarotam, Fuerteventuram et Canariam, in cadaveribus 

 necnon etiam in stercore humano, in arenosis degens. 



This very minute Saprinus is still smaller and of a less intense 

 black than the last species (thoiigh its subsenescent tinge is often 

 hardly traceable) ; and, apart from its diminutive bulk, it may be 

 readily known by its distinctly margined, semicircular forehead, which 

 has the transverse line which separates it from the epistome rather 

 strongly defined, and its anterior angles sharp and prominent, so as 

 almost to conceal from view the (rather small, reniform) eyes beneath 

 them. This prominence of the frontal angles causes the transverse 

 frontal keel, which at first sight appears quite straight, to be minutely 

 sinuated towards either end. Its punctui'es are considerably smaller, 

 and perhaps a little less dense, than those of the S. ignohilis, being 

 in fact so small on the disc of its prothorax and (more particularly) 

 on the anterior portion of its elytra as to require a high magnifying 

 power to be perceived : nevertheless (though less conspicuously so 

 than in that insect) they do certainly extend over the whole surface. 



