CANARIAN COLEOPXERA. 371 



cinereis vel submetallico-fuscis) nebulosus ; capite prothoraceque 

 leviter rugose subpunctatis, rostro longitudinaliter canaliculate, hoc 

 subinajquaH (utrinque fovea irregular! transversa media laterali 

 necnon punctis duobus soepe obsoletis juxta canaliculam discalem 

 impresso), mox intra apicem anguste constricto ; elytris elongato- 

 ovatis, striato-punctatis ; antennis brevibus ; pedibus elongatis, 

 crassis, 



n (status typicus). Elytris sat profunde striato-punctatis, pilis erectis 

 (etiam versus ajjicem) fere earentibus. 



/8. snbvestita. Elytris, praesertim postice, pilis erectis mollibus sed 

 hand dense obsitis. 



y. lanata. Paulo magis rugulosa squamisque pallidioribus vestita, ely- 

 tris pilis erectis mollibus elongatis cinereis densissime obsitis et 

 minus profunde striato-punctatis. — Long. corp. lin. 5-8. 



Cm-culio eremita, Oliv., Ent. v. 85. 321. tab. 24. f. 38-3 (1807). 

 Herpysticus Igesicollis, Germ., Ins. Spec. i. 413. tab. 2. f. 3 (1824). 



, ScJwn., Gen. et Spec. Cure. i. 556 (1833). 



eremita, Brtdle, in Webb et Berth. (Col.) 72 (1838). 



Habitat Canariam, Teneriffam, Gomeram et Palmam, sub lapidibus 

 in aridis degens. 



Witb the exception of the typical one (or that from which the in- 

 sect was originally described), I have given names to the states indi- 

 cated above of this variable Curculionid, in case that either the /8 or 

 y should prove eventually to be specifically distinct. My belief, how- 

 ever, is, as before expressed, that they cannot be so regarded ; for I 

 think that I am able to complete the passages between the whole of 

 them, and that it is impossible therefore to look upon them as more 

 than topographical varieties — brought about by surrounding circum- 

 stances and the more or less calcareous nature of the regions in which 

 they occur. Indeed the tendency which many insects possess of hav- 

 ing their clothing more developed in sandy and calcareous cUstricts 

 than elsewhere I have more than once had occasion to comment upon, 

 though for what purpose they should be thus additionally pubescent 

 I am quite unable to conjectui'e. Certainly, however, it appears to be 

 a fact, — no less than that scaly species are apt to have their scales 

 perceptibly whiter, or more cinereous, in such localities. 



In accordance with the above remarks, it appears to me that this 

 unstable insect is, on the average, rather darker and larger in the 

 more western islands of the Group — TenerifFe, Gomera, and Palma 

 (and doubtless Hierro also, though I did not happen to meet with it 

 there) — than it is in Grand Canary, — and that its elytra are usually 

 almost entirely free from additional erect hairs, with the exception 

 of a very few towards their apex. It was from a Teneriffan speci- 

 men that it was originally described — as I am able to vouch for cer- 



2b2 



