212 MR. WESTWOOD ON THE TENEBRIONID^ 



Comparing the characters of these species with those of Chiroscelis and the alUed 

 genera, it is evident that the gradual dilatation of the terminal joints in the antennae, the 

 narrowed form of the anterior tibiae, which are never toothed externally, the less late- 

 rallj' dilated mentum, and the securiform maxillarj^ palpi, are the chief distinguishing 

 characters. There likewise appears to be a difference in the form of the feet of the 

 opposite sexes which we do not find in Chiroscelis ; and the individuals which have less 

 strongly curved tibiae, indicating them to be females, have no patches upon the second 

 segment of the abdomen. From tlie following groups they may be at once distinguished 

 by the larger size of the quadrate thorax, shorter feet, and want of metallic tints. 



Regarding P. Fabricii as the type of the genus, the others will form a separate 

 division. 



Division 1. — Clypeus antice hand emarginatus, margine antico in medio unitnherculato. 

 Mandihula. intus vix dentatte. Maxillarum lobus internus, apice corneo 

 bijido. Prothorax suboctagonus. Elytra ad humeros acute angulata. 

 (Prioscelis proprie sic dicta.) 



Species 1 . Prioscelis Fabricii, Hope, I. c. supra. 

 Tab. XIV. Fig. 4. 

 " Ater, thorace glabra, elytris elongatis et [punctata-] striatis, tibiis incurvis et serratis." 

 Long. Corp. hn. 20; mens. angl. [nee 18]; lat. proth. hn. 5; lat. elytr. fere lin. 6, 



[nee 7]. 

 Hab. in Sierra Leone. In mus. D. Hope, e mus. D. Lee. 



The head is considerably narrower than the prothorax ; under a lens it is finely 

 rugulose. The clypeus is biemarginate in front, the centre forming a prominent lobe; 

 the lateral margins of the head in front of the eyes are very much elevated, with a deep, 

 transverse, slightly curved furrow running across the middle of the head, and between 

 the eyes is a longitudinal impression ; the space between the eyes is somewhat elevated. 

 The antennje are 2>\ lines long ; the joints, from the 3rd to the 7th, are monihform and 

 glabrous, the remaining gradually dilated and covered with fine short pubescence. The 

 mandibles are strongly curved ; the right-hand one is destitute of teeth, but the left- 

 hand one has a short tooth both above and below at a short distance from the apex ; 

 the maxills have a produced lobe on the outside, beneath the insertion of the palpi, which 

 have the terminal joint strongly securiform. The mentum is dilated at the sides, and 

 somewhat cordate-truncate ; the labium transverse, with the middle of the front margin 

 forming a small angle ; the labial palpi are but slightly dilated at the last joint. 'I'he 

 prothorax is somewhat quadrate with all the angles cut off, so that it appears subocta- 

 gonal ; it is margined all round, and under a lens appears very finely punctured ; it has, 

 moreover, two larger punctures on the disc before the middle, and there is a slight 

 oblique impression between each of these punctures and the anterior angles. The elytra 

 are an inch long, and broader than the protliorax ; they have the sides nearly parallel, 



