8 MADEIRAN COLEOPTERA. 
anywhere perceptible (so far as I can distinguish) between the base 
of the ligula and its tricuspid apex. Its wings, likewise, are eva- 
nescent, 
15. Leistus ellipticus, n. sp. 
L. fusco-ferrugineus, prothorace amplo lato ad latera subequaliter 
rotundato necnon late marginato, elytris convexis ellipticis crenato- 
striatis, ad apicem pallidioribus, antennis, palpis pedibusque lon- 
gissimis Bae. 
Long. corp. lin. 31-4. 
LZ. brownish-ferruginous, and but slightly shining. Head less con- 
stricted behind, and the eyes less prominent, than in any of the 
European Leist?. Prothorax very large and wide (for a Leistus), 
the hinder portion, although not so broad as the anterior, being as 
wide as the base of the elytra; the sides almost equally rounded 
throughout, and broadly margined (or recurved) ; generally also 
(especially in immature examples, when they are somewhat pel- 
lucid) a little paler, or more rufescent, at the sides: with some 
large punctures in front and at the base, and a broad fovea on 
either side, behind. Hlytra remarkably convex and elliptic, being 
much rounded at the shoulders, where they are of exactly the same 
breadth as the base of the prothorax; finely striated, the striz 
being delicately crenate ; and more or less pale testaceous at their 
extreme apex. Antenne, palpi and legs (all of which are extremely 
long, especially the hinder pair of the last) pale-testaceous. 
This important addition} to the Madeiran fauna is one of the most 
extraordinary Levsti with which I am acquainted, its posteriorly un- 
constricted head and prothorax (the latter of which is immensely 
developed and broad, and greatly margined at the sides), in conjunc- 
tion with its convex, elliptical, and crenate-striated elytra, and the 
remarkable length of its posterior legs, giving it a character which it 
is impossible to mistake. In its curiously elliptical body, indeed, and 
elongated limbs, it offers a striking parallel to the anomalous E/lhipto- 
soma Wollastonit,—which recedes so notoriously from its European 
ally in (amongst many others) those same particulars. It was detected 
by myself, beneath moist stones, in the lofty sylvan district of the 
Cruzinhas, at the beginning of July 1855. It would appear how- 
+ Whether this insect be the Nebria dilatata of Dejean’ s Catalogue, which is 
stated to come from Madeira, Iam unable to say. It is of but little conse- 
quence, however, whether it is so or not, seeing that the name (which is a mere 
Catalogue one) cannot in any way interfere with that which I have given above. 
Nevertheless, it is by no means impossible that it may be the insect to which 
Dejean referred ; for although it would be of course unpardonable to mistake a 
Leistus for a Nebria, when dissected, the Z. ellipticus 1 is, at the same time, so 
anomalous in its general contour and aspect, that it might have been hastily 
quoted as a Nebria, in a Catalogue, without subjecting the author (who perhaps 
had not critically examined it) to any very serious charge of inaccuracy. 
