246 CANARIAN COLEOPTERA. 



§ I. Ocxdi maximi : pal])i maodllares articulo ultimo securlformi, 



simplici. 



393, Xyletinus latitans. 



Xyletinus latitans, Woll., Ann. Nat. Hist. (3rd series) vii. 14 (1861). 



Habitat in Lanzarota, Fuerteventura, Teneriifa et Hierro, sub cor- 

 tice Euphorbiarum arido laxo latitans. 



Not to mention the slight difference in the form of the ultimate 

 joint of its maxillary palpi, which appears to have no indication what- 

 ever of a scooping-out along its oblique apical edge, the less evidently 

 punctulated surface and rather longer and paler pubescence of this 

 Xyletinus, combined with its somewhat less rounded-off shoidders, 

 very much larger eyes, and usually paler limbs, will serve to distin- 

 guish it from the following one (which at first sight it closely re- 

 sembles). It seems to be pretty widely spread over the archipelago ; 

 and indeed, from its Eupliorhia-mfe^im^ habits, it is most probably 

 universal. Hitherto, however, I have observed it in only four out 

 of the seven islands of the Group — namely Lanzarote, (in the Rio 

 Palmas of) Fuerteventura, (at Taganana and Orotava in) Teneriffe, 

 and (at a low elevation in the district of El Golfo in) Hierro. 



§ II. Ocull minores (sed sat magni) : palpi maxillares articulo ultimo 

 securiformi, sed per apicem internum plus minus oblique excavato. 

 [Gen. Metholcus, Duval.] 



394. Xyletinus desectus. 



Xyletinus desectus, Woll., Ann. Nat. Hist. (3rd series) vii. 13 (1861). 

 Habitat in Canaria et Teneriifa, rarissimus. 



On re-examining this insect, I find that the securiform last joint 

 of its maxillary palpi is sHghtly excavated along its oblique apical 

 edge ; so that it must needs be removed into the present Section. 

 The scooping-out, however, of this terminal articulation is a character 

 (even though a structural one) which is more or less expressed accord- 

 ing to the species ; and I am doubtful, therefore, whether it can be 

 employed for more than a sn&generic purpose. As may be gathered 

 from a reference to the diagnosis given in my Paper (above alluded 

 to) on the Canarian Anobiadce, the present Xyletinus and the pre- 

 ceding one approach each other very closely at first sight ; but in spite 

 of this, their distinctions are not the less real. Apart from the dif- 

 ference in the last joint of their respective maxillaiy palpi, the X. 

 desectus may be knoAvn from the latitans by being (althoiigh minutely) 

 much more evidentlj^ punctulated (when viewed beneath the micro- 



