269 



DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO COTTON PESTS FROM 

 WEST AFRICA. 



By W. L. Distant. 



Mr. G. C. Dudgeon has placed in my hands for determina- 

 tion some L^^gieids which he found parasitic on Gossypium in 

 West Africa. They all belong to the genus Oxycarenus, and in- 

 clude the widely distributed 0. hyalinipennis, Costa,* and two 

 other species, which are here described. Another specimen, 

 also found on the same plant, may or may not belong to this 

 genus, but is in too mutilated a condition for correct identi- 

 fication. 



Mr. Dudgeon is now preparing a report on the cotton pests of 

 West Africa, and will use the names given in this short com- 

 munication. 



RHYNCHOTA. 

 HETEROPTERA. 

 Fam. liYGIElBM. 



Oxycarenus diidgeoni, sp. n. 

 Head, prouotum, and scutellum black ; hemelytra hyaline, base 

 of cerium, the whole of clavus, and a spot at apical angle to corium, 

 black ; subcostal vein to corium piceously punctate ; abdomen beneath 

 subflavous ; sternum black, acetabula, and posterior margins of meso- 

 and metasterna greyish white ; legs piceous, tibiae excluding bases and 

 apices greyish white ; antennae black, bases of third and fourth joints 

 white ; head, pronotum, and scutellum coarsely punctate, head about 

 half as long as prouotum, the anterior lobe of which is much shorter 

 than the posterior lobe, and is transversely impressed before the 

 anterior margin; antennae with the basal joint not quite reaching 

 apex of head, second joint more than twice as long as first, third and 

 fourth joints subequal, each much shorter than second ; rostrum 

 shortly passing the posterior coxas. Long. 3^ to i millim. 



Hah. Sierra Leone; Moyamba (G. C. Dudgeon). 

 Allied to 0. breddhii, Bergr., from the Congo region. 



Oxycarenus gossipinus, sp. n. 

 Head, antennae, scutellum, and clavus black ; pronotum testaceous, 

 its anterior and posterior margins centrally narrowly black ; hemelytra 

 stramineous, with a small black spot at apical angle, and with a short 

 basal subcostal black line ; pro- and mesosterna testaceous, their disks 

 and the metasternum black ; acetabula greyish white ; legs and rostrum 

 black, tibiffi broadly centrally annulated with stramineous ; abdomen 

 beneath ochraceous, stigmatal spots and apex black; head, pronotum, 

 and scutellum thickly and somewhat coarsely punctate ; head more than 

 half as long as pronotum, the anterior and posterior lobes of which are 



* Cf. T. Kuhlgatz, Mt. Mus. Berlin, iii. pp. 53 and 88 (1905). 



