212 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 



HELCOGASTER PUNCTIPENNIS Lea. 

 A male of this .species, from Cairns, has only five joints of each antenna 

 dark; by a printer's error^ the female was deseribed originally as having the 

 head "absolutely" biioveate in front, instead of " obsoletely " ; two other females 

 have tlie fovea' rather distinct, and one of these has the inner apices of the elytra 

 obscurely testaceous. 



HELCOSASTER VARIUS Lea. var. FLAVOPICTUS var. nov. 

 Four .specimens, two of each sex, from Bribie Island, appear to represent 

 another variety of this species; they are rather larger than usual, up to 5-5 mm., 

 and have the pale portion of the elytra larger; their dark parts are a narrow 

 triangle about the seutellum, and the tips for about one-fourth their length at 

 the suture, and sides (but more between) ; the pale parts of the legs are brighter 

 and more extended than in other described varieties. On the males the black 

 patch at the base of the head is terminated before the sides; on the females there 

 is a narrow irregular reddish line near each eye, and on one of them the two are 

 transversely connected. 



HELCOGASTER INSIGNICORNIS sp. nov. 

 (J Black and fiavous. Upper surface with sparse, dark, erect hairs. 



Head wide, with a large excavation behind muzzle. Antennte with first 

 joint thick, with a fovea near apex; second short, third to fifth rather wide, the 

 following ones rather thin. Proihorax about as long as the greatest width, sides 

 dilated from base to apex, near base with a large depression closed behind and 

 at the sides, but shallowly connected, towards each side, with a shallow, latero- 

 apical depres.sion. Elytra rather long, with a few inconspicuous punctures. 

 Basal joint of front tarsi with a .small black comb. Length ((^$ ), 2-25-3 mm. 



$ Differs in having the head narrower, with eyes slightly smaller, 

 excavation replaced by a rather shallow depression, that is notched posteriorly 

 in middle ; antenna* shorter, basal joint much smaller and non-f oveate, third and 

 fifth joints smaller ; prothorax with subbasal depression not, or scarcely, con- 

 nected with latero-apical ones (and these often scarcely defined) ; and legs shorter, 

 with front tarsi combless. 



Hah. — Queensland: Mount Tambourine (A. M. Lea). — Type, I. 11911 in 

 South Australian Museum ; cotype, C/2306 in Queensland ]\ruseum. 



Allied to H. foveicornis, but basal joint of antenna^ of male smaller and of 

 different shape, elytra with a pale basal zone and, at most, only three apical 

 segments of abdomen entirely black. The female is much like females of H. 

 tiihercvlifrons, H. simpliciceps, II. maculiccps, and others having bicolorous 

 elytra, but the male is at once distinctive. On the male the black parts are the 

 apical three-fourths of elytra and the tip (one or two segments) of abdomen; the 



"Lea, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1909, p. 225. 



