604 



CANAIUAX COLEOI'TEltA. 



(Subfam. X. PllOTINIDES.) 



Genus 338. MEGARTHRUS. 



(Kirby) Stephens, ///. Brit. Ent. v. 330 (1832). 



929. Megarthrus longicornis. 



M. nigro-fuscus prothorace paulo rufesccntiore, subopacus, profunde 

 asperato-punctatus ; capita (intcrdum fere nigro) antice inter 

 oculos plus minus producto et saspe recurvo, utrinque latissime 

 subconcavo ; prothorace profunde canaliculate, basi in medio si- 

 nuate et mox intra basin leviter transversim impresso, ad angulos 

 posticos excise necnon ad latera in medio obsoletissime subangu- 

 lato ; antennis subgracilibus, longiusculis (articulis intermediis sat 

 elongatis, conspicue obconicis), nigrescentibus, ad basin piceis ; pe- 

 dibus rufo-testaceis. — Long. corp. lin. 1-1 3. 



Megarthrus longicornis, Wull, Im. Mad. G15. tab. xiii. f 9 (1854). 

 , Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 236 (1857). 



Habitat in Lanzarota, Canaria, TenerifFa et Hierro, sub quisqui- 

 liis in inferioribus intermediisque dcgens. 



This Megarthrus is nearly allied to the European M. sinuaticoUis, 

 but has its antcnna3 rather longer and slenderer, the intermediate 

 joints being very conspicuously more elongated and obconical; its 

 head is a little more produced in front, where it is frequently some- 

 what recurved ; its prothorax is less rounded at the sides, and only 

 very ohsoletely subangulated in the middle, as also more decidedly 

 sinuated (and transversely impressed) in the centre of its base ; and 

 its entire sculpture is coarser. I do not see that it differs specifi- 

 cally from the Madeiran M. longicornis ; for although in Madeira 

 two of its main features (namely, the rather elongated antennal 

 joints and the slightly produced head) are usually a trifle more ex- 

 pressed, the examination of a very extensive series of Canarian spe- 

 cimens has convinced me that the clypeus, at all events, is subject 

 to great variation — being sometimes considerably recurved, some- 

 times comparatively deflected, and at others more or less transitional. 

 It occurs beneath vegetable refuse at low and intermediate eleva- 

 tions, and is doubtless universal throughout the archipelago — though 

 hitherto I have observed it only in Lanzarote, Grand Canary, Tene- 

 riffe, and Hierro. In Teneriffe and Hierro it was found likewise by 

 Mr. Gray, and in the former by Dr. Crotch. My Teneriffan speci- 

 mens are principally from the vicinity of S'" Cruz and the mountains 

 above it, Las Mercedes, and the Agoia Garcia. Although both common 

 and widely distributed in these islands, it is an extremely rare insect 

 at Madeira. 



