Genera and Species of Coleoptera. 365 



Tmesisternus tersus. 

 T. niger, nitidus, pube subtilissima grisea tectus ; elytris disperse punc- 

 tatis, apice subsiuuatis, iniiticis, fasciis duabus albis ornatis ; antennis, 

 tibiis tarsisque nifo-fulvis. 

 Hah. Goram (Moluccas). 



Rather robust, black, shining, the upper surface covered with a 

 uniform, very fine gi-eyish pile, the two bands on the elytra alone have 

 the hairs of a coarser texture ; head deeply channeled in front, a 

 nearly straight raised line at the root of the antenna, between them a 

 few punctures only, the vertex scarcely pimctm'ed ; pro thorax trans- 

 verse, narrowed in front, coarsely punctured on each side, leaving a 

 smooth space in the middle ; scutellum nearly round ; elytra irregularly 

 punctured, rather convex at the base, the apex sub sinuate, unarmed, a 

 pale-greyish or nearly white band at one-third the length of the elytra 

 fi'om the base, another, but ciu'ved forwards and narrower, at about the 

 same distance from the apex ; anteunte, tibioe, and tarsi reddish fulvous, 

 sparingly pubescent ; body beneath glossy black, the sides covered with 

 a glaucous pubescence. Length 8 lines. 



So very closely allied to T. trivittatus, Guer., as, except on com- 

 paring them side by side, to be readily mistaken for it ; besides cer- 

 tain differences of colour, however, T. tersus has the punctures on 

 the elytra irregularly dispersed, not forming two or three rows near 

 the sutm'e, and the apex is entirely unarmed ; the vertex and front 

 are also very slightly punctured ; the clear reddish-yellow colour of 

 the antennae, tibiae, and tarsi, and the leaden tint of the rest, con- 

 trast strongly with the general olive hue of T. trivittatus. I may 

 observe here that Guerin's name is singularly inappropriate ; the 

 animal has not three strijjes, but two bands. Boisduval has proposed 

 to remedy this by substituting " bicinctus ; " but the law of priority, 

 I fear, cannot admit the alteration. Another Tmesisternus, from 

 Ceram, although sufficiently distinct at the first glance, appears to 

 me to be only a local subspecies of the present : there is the same 

 general disposition of colours ; but the two bands are very indistinct, 

 and the spaces between them and the apex respectively occupied by 

 a series of closely arranged stripes of a pale leaden hue. I have 

 seen a number of both forms, but nothing intermediate. There is 

 stiU another form, from Makian (a small island near Batchian), 

 so nearly concolorous that, except at the apex, no markings are 

 visible without the aid of a lens. 



Tmesisternus herbaceus. 



T. fusco-viridis, fusco variegatus; elytris subseriato-punctatis, apice 

 oblique truncatis, singido macula griseo-alba pone mediima exteme 

 notato ; femoribus tibiisque flavo-viridibus, tarsis rufo-testaceis. 



Hah. Mysol. 



