196 CANARIAN COLEOPTERA, 



his four Canarian Melolonthkht* are both inadequate and inaccurate 

 — and from which the identification of the species is rendered even 

 still more hopeless by his entire omission (as is the case throughout 

 the wJioIe of his Catalogue) of the particular islamh which they in- 

 habit, — I think that the fact of his mentioning that the M. hipartita 

 has its head and pro thorax " noiratres " is sufficient to render it at 

 least pro6rt6?e that that insect is identical with the present one. 



Although excessively inconstant, both in size and in the develop- 

 ment of its (Ttnore or less darkened) pile, the present species may be 

 known from the 0. fuscij^ennis (with which it agrees in its usually 

 quite impunctate but biimpressed scutellum) by, apart from minor 

 distinctions, its head, prothorax, and scutellum being of a blackish 

 hue, whilst its elytra are rufo-castaneous ; by its pubescence (espe- 

 cially on the under side of the body) being generally darker ; by its 

 pronotum being just perceptibly more densely punctured ; and by the 

 last joint of the maxillary palpi of its males being less enormously 

 enlarged, whilst those of its females are likewise a little narrower — 

 being (instead of oblong or suboval) nearly cylindrie. 



The 0. hipartlta occurs principally in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura 

 (especially the former) ; nevertheless I have taken it sparingly in 

 Grand Canary, as also a single specimen in Teneriffe. It is found, 

 for the most part, in small holes, or burrows, in the soil, — either 

 beneath stones or the dung of cattle. It was captured likewise (in 

 Lanzarote and Fuerteventura) by M. Hartung. 



b. Tarsorum intermecUorum masculorum art. penultinim subtus 

 hand setoso-penicUlatus. 



313. Ootoma fuscipennis. 



0. fusco-castanea, nitida, subtus (abdomine excepto) necnon supra ad 

 margines longe subflavescenti-pilosa ; capite densissime punctato, 



* He ignores the very few distinctire featiires which these exceedingly variable 



insects possess, — veievrmg almost solely, in his four "diagnoses," to the characters 

 which they have in common. Take, for instance, his "description" of the M. 

 fuscip€n7iis. " Moindre d'un tiers que le biparfita [this is incorrect], cet insecte 

 se distingue par la couleur obscure de ses elytres qui sont presque noirs, tandis 

 que tout le reste du corps est chatain. [This is equally inaccurate ; in rare cases 

 the head and prothorax are slightly more rufescent than the elytra, but the in- 

 sect is usually perfccfl// concolorous.] Ce petit hanneton a le dessous du corps 

 tres-velu excepte le bout de I'abdomen [which is the case with them all], et de 

 longs polls se montrent en outre aux bords anterieur et posterieur de son corselet, 

 de manirre a caclier presque entierement I'^cusson [a genc7-ic feature which, al- 

 though exceedingly variable, is applicable alike to the v^hole of the species]. La 

 ponctuation du dessus du corps et la disposition des stries et des cotes sur les 

 elytres sont analogues a ce que Ton remarque dans le M. hipartifa, et la forme 

 du chaperon est a peu pres la meme." In which entire description there is not 

 fo much ae one single statement which is even tipproximntrly diagnostic. 



