CANARIAN COLEOPTERA. 397 



where it would seem to be conlined to lofty altitudes, and to be par- 

 ticularly attached to the flowers of the ClstL Thus, in the elevated 

 Pinal of Tarajana, above San Bartolome, I captured it, during April 

 1858, on the blossoms of the Cistus vagans and monspeliensis, Linn., 

 rather abundantly. 



Fam. 52. CRYPTOCEPHALID^. 



Genus 235. CRYPTOCEPHALUS. 



Geoffroy, Hist. Abr. dcs Ins. de Paris, i. 231 (1702). 



608. Crjrptocephalus nitidicollis, n. sp. 



C. uitidus, flavo-testaceus ; capite prothoraceque (convexo) nitidis- 

 simis, minute, parce et levissime punctatis (stepe fere impuuctatis), 

 iUo longitudinaliter in fronte et hoc utrinque in disco antico plus 

 minus rufo-fulvescenti-obscurioribus ; ely tris profunde striato-pune- 

 tatis, vel omnino pallidis vel per suturam necnon utrinque in plaga, 

 longitudinal! subobUqua discali plus minus obscurioribus ; antennis 

 (gracilibus) pedibusque pallide testaceis, iUis versus apicem obscu- 

 rioribus. 



Vnriat (prsesertim in locis editioribus) maculis plagisque fere nigres- 

 centibus ; necnon, in locis valde elevatis, etiam pedibus obscuriori- 

 bus. — Long, corp, lin. 1-1 1. 



Habitat insulas omnes Canarienses, longe lateque parce diffusus — 

 ab era maritima usque ad 9000' s. m. ascendens. 



The present Cri/ptocephahis is universal throughout the Canarian 

 archipelago, in the whole seven islands of which I have myself cap- 

 tured it except in Gomera — where, however, four examples (now 

 before me) were taken by Dr. Crotch. In Lanzarote and Palma it 

 was met with also by Mr. Gray, and in TeneriiFe by the Barao do 

 CasteUo de Paiva. Although nowhere very common, it occurs inde- 

 pendently of elevation — from the level of the shore to about 9000 

 feet above the sea ; and in the higher altitudes it is apt to vary a 

 good deal in hue — the obscure portions of its surface (and occasion- 

 ally even the limbs) becoming at times almost black. In this state 

 I have brushed it off the blossoms of the " Ketama '' on the lofty 

 Cumbre of TeneriiFe above Ycod el Alto and adjoining the Caiia- 

 das (where it was likewise found, subsequently, by Dr. Crotch), as 

 well as on the opposite Cumbre (above the Agua Mansa). My other 

 Teneriffan specimens are principally from the Agua Mansa, Orotava, 

 and the mountains above S''^ Cruz. In Grand Canary it is pretty 

 general throughout the region of El Monte, as well as at Maspalomas 

 (in the south of the island) ; whilst my Palman examples are chiefly 



