'210 CANARIAN COLEOPTERA. 



the insertion of the antennae) where in certain other species the ob- 

 lique groove commences. But this (which indeed is scarcely per- 

 ceptible, even beneath the microscope) may be equally the case in 

 the Madeiran type. I have taken it sparingly, out of damp rotten 

 sticks, in the laurel -regions between Taganana and Point Anaga, of 

 Teneriife ; as also, in similar situations, on the ascent to the Cumbre, 

 above Buenavista, of Palma. 



Fam. 32. ELATERID^. 



Genus 139. COPTOSTETHUS. 

 Wollaston, Ins. Mad. 238. tab. iv. f. 8 (1854). 



329. Coptostethus brunneipennis. 



C. elongatus, niger vel fusco-niger clytris plus minus brunneis, fulvo- 

 pubescens ; prothorace elongate, basi paulo angustato ; elytris pube 

 suberecta tenui vestitis, sat profunde cronato-striatis, interstitiis 

 subconvexis ; antennis pedibusque elongatis, testaceis. 



Vanat prothorace ad latera elytrisque ad humeros plus minus con- 

 spicue pallidioribus, necnon etiam (immaturus) colore omnino fer- 

 rugineo. 



Var. j3. obscurus [an species ?]. Prothorace elytrisque obscurioribus 

 concoloribus, illo ad basin angustiore, pedibus (sed pra^sertim tar- 

 sis) vix brevioribus. — Long. corp. lin. 2^3|. 



Coptostetlius bnmneipennis, Woll, Ami. Nat. Hist. xi. 218 (1863). 



Hahitat in TenerifFa, Palma et Hierro, sub lapidibus, passim. 



The excessive variability of this insect makes it a very difficult one 

 to define ; for, after carefully studying many specimens, collected in 

 various islands and altitudes, it appears to me that nearly the whole 

 of its characters are inconstant. Its colour is eminently so, and even 

 the relative length of its tarsi seems to be unstable ; but as the latter 

 are always a trifle longer in the males than in the females, this may 

 occasionally perhaps be more apparent than real. Upon the whole, 

 however, it is more elongate than the other Coptostethi here enume- 

 rated, and also larger than any of them, except perhaps the C. ohtusus ; 

 its elytra are generally of a browner tint ; and even its prothorax 

 (which is less abbreviated and convex, and not quite so narrowed 

 behind, as is the case in the C. canarietisis and glohuUcollis) is often 

 more or less diluted in hue. In its comparatively elongated limbs it 

 agrees with the C. gracilis. It occurs principally at intermediate 

 elevations, though sparingly in lower ones also. Thus, it was taken 

 both by Mr. Gray and myself close to the Puerto Orotava in Tene- 



