670 COLEOPTERA. 



Group Cnemacanthidae. 

 Mecodema Blanchard. Man. N.Z. Coleopt., p. 7. 



4255. Mecodema validum sp. nov. 



Elongate, slightly convex, head and thorax nitid, elytra subopaque ; 

 black, palpi, antennae, and legs piceo-rufous. 



Head finely punctate behind the moderately prominent eyes, 

 longitudinally rugose near these and on the forehead, the vertex feebly 

 transversely and irregularly rugose. Thorax apparently elongate, very 

 little broader than long, widest near the front, curvedly narrowed 

 towards the base, which has straight sides and obtusely rectangular angles ; 

 marginal channels almost ecjually narrow, the sides indistinctly crenulate ; 

 apex slightly and widely emarginate, base subtrurtcate, a little rounded 

 towards its angles ; discal stria distinct, not attaining either base . or 

 apex, deepened and somewhat expanded at its extremities, the surface 

 nearly smooth, with only faintly marked striae across it, those near the 

 sides rather more distinct, the usual frontal and basal longitudinal striae 

 almost obsolete, basal fossae moderately large. Elytra oblong-oval, 

 nearly thrice the length of thorax, rather broader than it is near the 

 middle, with numerous very fine irregular linear impressions ; the four 

 finely punctured inner striae hardly reach the extremity, the fourth is 

 the shortest, these striae, the third and fourth particularly, are broader 

 and deeper near the base so that the interstices become quite costiform 

 there ; the sixth interstice is narrower and more convex throughout and 

 has three or four punctures on or near it, and the broader interval 

 between it and the fifth has double series of punctures, the oxner the 

 coarser; the smooth lateral costa does not reach either base or apex, and 

 between it and the sixth interstice the duplicate series of punctures are 

 rather deeper, none, however, very coarse. 



Underside shining black, the prosternum with a few shallow rugae 

 across the middle, its flanks irregularly punctate in front, its process 

 concave along the middle, mesosternum rugose-punctate, metasternum less 

 distinctly so, abdomen finely irregularly strigose, its last segment quadri- 

 punctate at the apex. 



This most nearly resembles M. acudnctum (2602), but is larger, with 

 much more complex elytral sculpture, and, moreover, the thoracic margins 

 are not distinctly crenulate. 



Length, 30 mm. ; breadth, 9 mm. 



Ohakune, 30th December, 1916. One specimen only ; found by Mr. 

 A. E. Brookes, of Mount Albert. 



4256. Mecodema occiputale sp. nov. 



Elongate, slightly convex, moderately nitid ; black, antennae, palpi, 

 and tarsi rufo-piceous. 



Head narrower than thorax, nearly smooth, with a pair of shallow 

 median punctures between the very prominent eyes, alongside each of 

 the latter there are two or three moderate longitudinal rugae and a single 

 deep setigerous puncture ; the back part appears depressed and is rather 

 sharply limited by a slightly curved stria extending from the hinder 

 portion of one eye to the other ; the frontal rugae are inconstant, but the 

 common punctures on the labrum are well marked. Thorax a sixth 



