BUPBESTID GENUS ASTRAEU8. 89 



Variability. In one specimen there is an additional reddish 

 spot just above the epistoma. The elytral stripes are sometimes 

 united at the top. 



Number of specimens examined: three, in coll. Oberthiir. 



3. Astrae us m ulti no tat us v. d. Poll. — nov. spec. 



Eobustus, supra niger subcoeruleo-internitens , cajnte thoraceque 

 opacis, elytrls nitidis; suhtus cum pedihus atro-coeruleus , nitidus. 

 Omnino maculis perparvis numerosis Jfavis notatus. Caput fortiter 

 punctatum, in medio plaga glabra. Prothomx brevis, convexus, 

 lateribtis rotufidatis, apicem versus multo angustatis^ fortiter 

 et creberrime punctatus , lateraliter punctis majoribus instructus. 

 Elytra striata, interstitiis sat convexis, sparsim imnctatis, trans- 

 versaliter plicatis ; post mediiim latiora , apicibus panilo diver- 

 gentibus , spinis lateralihus deficientibm. Pars in/era omnino eonfertim 

 punctata. 



Long. 15 mm., lat. 6 mm. 



Habitat: N. W. Australia. 



Robust; uppersurface black with bluish reflections, elytra shining, 

 head and thorax rather dull; undersurface and legs cyaneous black , 

 very shining. The whole body, thighs included, speckled with very 

 minute yellow spots , underneath the spots are somewhat larger , 

 and they are confluent on the abdominal segments. 



Head coarsely punctured, with a small glabrous patch above 

 between the eyes. Prothorax short, convex, sides strongly rounded 

 and narrowed towards the top, hinder angles slightly bent inwards; 

 deeply and closely punctured , strongest at the sides. Elytra broadest 

 behind the middle, then suddenly narrowed towards the top, 

 hardly diverging at the suture, apices ending in very short and 

 blunt points; striated, the interstices rather convex, deeply punc- 

 tured and sensibly plicated in a transverse direction, the sculpture 

 being strongest near the apex and along the margins. Beneath 

 coarsely punctured all over, the punctures at the sides of the 

 prosternum very large. 



The single specimen I have at my disposal , being old and rubbed , 



