OF TROPICAL AFRICA. 223 



Totus niger, parum nitidus. Caput margine antico (clypeo incluso) subsemicirculari, 

 clypeo utrinque incisione parva in linea obliqua impressa tlesinente distinguendo ; 

 lineaque altera impressa longitudinali utrinque ad marginem internum ocuiorura. 

 Superficies capitis regulariter punctata, punctis parvis ; antennae articulo primo 

 crasso longitudine 4ti, 2do minuto, 3tio lougo, caeteris longitudine fere sequalibus at 

 sensim latioribus, 5 ultimis compressis setosis, ultimo ovali, basi truncato, apice 

 rotundato : mandibulae subtrigonae, apice acutae, intus edentatae, sed spatio mediano 

 membranacQO instructo. Maxillae lobo interno in uncum corneum terminato ; palpi 

 maxillares articulo ultimo securiformi ; mentum subquadratum, anticepaullo latins, 

 et carina curvata instructum ; labium breve, transversum, ciliatum ; palpi labi- 

 ales breves, articulo ultimo dilatato-ovali, apice truncato. Prothorax capite multo 

 latior, margine antico truncato, lateribus rotundatis, angulis posticis acutis ; mar- 

 ginatus, margine tamen in medio marginis antici obliterato ; superficies tota crebre 

 punctata, punctis minutis et non approximatis. Elytra basi thorace latiora, humeris 

 rotundatis ; sensim latiora, apice utrinque parum sinuata ; dorso gibboso ; super- 

 ficies sub lente quasi coriacea ; singulis striis 9 e punctis minutis formatis, oculo 

 nudo vix conspicuis, stria interna prope scutellum abbreviata. Pedes longi, gra- 

 ciles, femoribus anticis crassioribus ; omnibus apice inermibus ; tibiis anticis pone 

 medium parum intus curvatis, apice externa intus setoso, extus oblique truncato, 

 tibiis 4 posticis subrectis, medio vix subincurvato, apiceque subinflexis ; calcaribus 

 omnibus minutissimis. 



Nyctobates l^vigatus. 



Fabricius, in the ' Entomologia Systematica,' vol. i. p. Ill, gives the following short 

 character of Tenebrio lavigatus : " T. oblongus ater, elytris laeviusculis, T. molitori paullo 

 minor, totus ater laevis glaber : habitat in Africa aequinoctiali ; Mus. Dom. Banks." ob- 

 serving in the ' Systema Eleutheratorum,' " Species indistincta mihi baud rite nota," 

 p. 146. In these two works there is no reference to Linnaeus, although in his earlier 

 publications (Sp. Ins. i. 323, and Mant. Ins. i. 211) he seems to have taken up the 

 species from the ' Systema Naturae' (vol. ii. p. 678), in which last work we find the fol- 

 lowing character given of T. leevigatus : " Apterus, niger, laevis, elytris laevibus, thorace 

 lunato, subtus caeruleus ; statura et summa similitudo T. rugosi [which has the " statura 

 fere Chrysomeltc sed major"] sed elytra laevia," and with the habitat Africa. 



The Tenebrio leevigatus of Linnaeus is however a species of Timarcha, as cited by 

 Schonherr' (Syn. Ins., vol. i. pt. 2. p. 239), and is supposed by the last-mentioned author 

 to be identical with Timarcha tenebricosa. The Tenebrio leevigatus of Olivier is still a 

 different insect. Mr. Hope gives the T. lesvigatus, Fabr., as a species of Upis (Co- 

 leopt. Man. iii. p. 130). His observation is derived from an insect in the Banksian 



' Schonherr has erroneously referred to this insect under the name of Chrysomela lavigata of Linnseus, who, 

 however, has descrihed no species of Chrysomela under that name. 



2 g2 



