366 CANARIAN COLEOPTKRA. 



I took the L. pershniUs in profusion, diu'ing May of 1859, from 

 beneath stones, in the Barranco at Ycod el Alto, in TenerifFe— im- 

 mediately above the bridge ; and I also met with the var. /3, though 

 more sparingly, in the Barranco above S'" Cruz, of Palma, early in 

 June of the preceding year. 



564. Lichenophagus subnodosus, n. sp. 



L, species a L. persimili baud valde remota, sed prothorace magis 

 cylindrico (?'. e. ad latera paulo minus rotundato), elytris setis lon- 

 gioribus crassis robustissimis parce obsitis, interstitiis plus minus 

 elevatis interruptis nodes plus minus distinctos efficientibus, an- 

 tennarum scapo ad basin sensim graciliore. 



Variat squamulis vel fusco-, vel (rarius) etiam submetallico-fusco- 

 cinereis, vel (strpius) omnino brunneis. 



Var. ft. suhcalva. Elytrorum setis brevioribus. \_Ins. Hierro.] — Long. 

 Corp. lin. 2^—3. 



Habitat Teneriifam sylvaticam, in intermediis degens : var. ft ad 

 insulam Hierro solam pertinet. 



The present Lichenophagus seems to occur, on the average, at a 

 rather higher elevation than the last one, and to attain its maximum 

 within the sylvan districts of intermediate altitudes. It will pro- 

 bably be found to be universal throughout the central and western 

 portions of the Group, though hitherto I have observed it only in 

 TenerifFe and Hierro. It may be known by its elytra being spa- 

 ringly studded with rather elongate and very robust (often indeed 

 almost subclavate) setae, and in having their interstiQps more or less 

 raised and interrupted, so as to form (greater or less) nodules — in 

 both of which respects it agrees with the L. impressieoUis ; though 

 that insect has those characters not only much exaggerated, but also, 

 apart from the sexual peculiarities of its tibiae, others in addition. 

 In the colour of its scales it is extremely variable ; for although the 

 generality of specimens are of a dull uniform brown, more highly 

 developed ones, on the contrary, have often a fusco-cinereous (and 

 occasionally even a yellowish, or slightly metallic) tinge — with some- 

 times the sutural and sometimes the lateral region paler than the 

 rest of the surface. The only individuals which I have yet seen 

 from Hierro (five in number, and which were captured by myself on 

 the hills immediately outside the town of Valverde) have their bristles 

 considerably shorter than is the case in the Teneriffan ones ; but I 

 can perceive nothing about them to warrant the suspicion that they 

 are specifically distinct. I have not been able to detect any appre- 

 ciable difference in the tibia} of its two sexes. 



