CNEMACANTHIDAE. 351 



})iinctuie near each eye and on the side of the forehead. Thorax of about 

 ec^ual length and breadth, base and apex siibtruncate, its indefinitely crenu- 

 late sides rather wider near the front than elsewhere, gradually narrowed 

 backw'ards, more strongly behind the middle, nearly straight at the base, 

 and with distinct, rectangular, subacute angles there ; disc nearly plane, 

 obsoletely transversely striate, with many short, distinct, longitudinal striae 

 in front, those near the base less regular, the central channel well marked 

 but not attaining the base or apex ; basal fossae rather large and deep, 

 a third of the entire length, more or less rugosely pmictate, similar but 

 finer sculpture exists near the anterior angles, and near each side, before 

 the middle, theie is a more or less obvious fovea ; the lateral channels are 

 somewhat expanded in front. Elytra oblong-oval, rather more than double 

 the length of thorax, a third broader, with curvedly nario\\ed shoulders ; 

 tliey slope gradually towards the sides, so that the margins and nearly 

 Hilt channels are quite conspicuous throughout when looked at from above ; 

 they are not perceptibly striate, but each has 4 inner series of fine punctures, 

 the 5th and 6th are slightly coarser, and the latter is bordered externally 

 by an indefinite costa, the lateral 3 series of punctures are more irregular 

 and a little larger but neither very deep nor coarse, and the usual smooth 

 space near the side is absent or hardly discernible ; interstices nearly plane, 

 with dense, fuie coriaceous sculpture. 



Legs moderately stout, anterior and intermediate tibiae somewhat pro- 

 minent at the outer extremity, posterior simple. Antennae pubescent from 

 the 5th joint onwards, their last joint reaches the middle of the thorax. 



Underside glossy black, the sides of the breast and basal ventral segment 

 more or less irregularly but not coarsely punctured, remaining segments 

 finely transversely strigose, the terminal -mth a pair of apical punctures 

 at each side of the middle. 



A careful examination of the elytra, of their sides pai-ticulai-ly, will at 

 once enable students to separate this from our recorded species. 



Length, 30-32 mm. ; breadth, 10 mm. 



Hollyford, north-Avest of Lake Wakatipu. Mr. T. Hall found four, half 

 of them damaged, at a height of 3,500 ft., on the 19th February, 1914. 



3785. Mecodema chiltoni .sp. nov. 



Elongate, moderately convex and nitid : black, tips of palpi riifescent, 

 <'i\"tral interstices faintly so. 



Head narrower than the thoracic apex, with longitudinal rugae in front 

 and a few irregular ones near the prominent eyes, elsewhere smooth and 

 impunctate. Thorax a fourth broader than long, base and apex sub- 

 truncate and with fine ferruginous cilia, very gradually narrowed from the 

 front backwards, somewhat abruptly contracted near the base, but wdthout 

 sharply defined angles there : disc apparently smooth, the central groove 

 well marked but hardly reaching the base or apex, basal fossae rathei- small : 

 lateral margins simple, the channels rathei- broader in front than beliind. 

 Elytra elongate, rather wider than the thorax and almost thrice its length : 

 each tricostate, 3rd little more than half the Ineadth of the 1st and with 

 4 or 5 punctures, the intermediate sometimes bipunctate ; betAveen these 

 and the almost equally costiform suture there are double series of rathei 

 indistinct fine punctures, on the interval between the 3rd costa and the 

 usual smooth sublateral space the punctation is very irregular, and, though 

 coarser, not very deep ; the whole sculpture becomes indistinct near the 

 extremity. 



