MADEIRAN COLEOPTERA. 173 
this curious little Homalota +, in conjunction with its apterous body, 
densely alutaceous surface, subquadrate head, and its much abbre- 
viated elytra and limbs, will readily distinguish it from every other 
species with which we are here concerned. It appears to be exceed- 
ingly rare, and confined to the upper limits of the sylvan districts of 
Madeira proper,—where it was detected by myself, amongst the 
earth and vegetable refuse which had accumulated in the hollows 
(and between the junction of the stems) of old trees, at the Cruzin- 
has and Fanal (nearly 5000 feet above the sea), during July 1855. 
489. Homalota sanguinolenta. 
Homalota sanguinolenta, Woll., Ins. Mad, 547 (1854). 
Inhabits Madeira proper; abounding beneath logs of wood, fallen 
leaves, &e., throughout the sylvan districts. 
490. Homalota haligena, n. sp. 
H. subcylindrica fusco-brunnea nitida, capite nigro, prothorace con- 
vexo, abdomine plus minus nigrescenti, antennarum basi pedibus- 
que testaceis. 
Long. corp. lin. 1-11, 
H. subcylindrical, rusty-brown, shining, clothed with a rather robust, 
decumbent, paler pubescence, and apterous. Head black, and very 
finely and remotely punctulated. Prothorawx convex, only slightly 
broader than the head and elytra, and most delicately margined,— 
the margin being scarcely distinguishable except beneath the mi- 
eroscope. Hlytra much abbreviated. Abdomen almost as dark as 
the head,—all the segments except the apical ones, and the 
extreme hinder margins of the others, being black. Antenne at 
base, and the legs, testaceous, 
Closely allied to the H. sanguinolenta, so abundant throughout the 
sylvan districts of Madeira proper, of which I had at first imagined 
it might possibly prove to be but a stunted, darker variety, peculiar 
to the more barren islands of the group. A careful examination, 
however, has convinced me that it is truly distinct,—though in its 
greatly abbreviated elytra and apterous body it has much in common 
with that species. It differs from the sangwinolenta in being smaller, 
more cylindric, shining, and convex ; in its antenne being (propor- 
tionably) somewhat shorter, and its prothorax not quite so wide; in 
its pubescence being a little more robust and regular ; its entire sur- 
face darker than even the dull, or typical, state of that insect (the 
paler portions being rusty-brown, instead of rufo-testaceous); and 


+ I may add that it has been examined by Dr. Kraatz, of Berlin, who re- 
turned it as ‘‘ Homalota n. sp., vix nov. gen.” 
