40G Mr. D. Sharp's Contrlhuiions to the 



Obs. II. — It is only after a good deal of hesitation that 

 I have decided to consider this insect a ne\\' species. 

 P. capricornis, Lap., Er., mnst be closely allied to it if not 

 the same s})ecies. Laporte's figure represents an insect 

 with less transverse thorax, and his words, "abdomen 

 finement ponctue," are singularly inapplicable to the 

 species I have described above as P. frontalis. Erichson's 

 description of P. capricornis agrees much better with the 

 P. frontalis. Nevertheless, though Erichson gives a 

 detailed description of the mandibles of his species, he 

 omits any notice of the rcmarka])le transverse spine-like 

 tooth which exists on the inner side of each mandible in 

 P. frontalis, this being one of the most striking character- 

 istics of the species. 



5. Picstus rectus, n. sp. Rufescens, antennis (basi 

 exceptis), capite abdomineque piceo-rufis; capite vertice 

 unifoveolato, antice utrinque curvatim lincato; abdominc 

 segmento 6° toto dense punctato. Long. corp. 3 lin. 



Antennas 1 5 lin. in length, the basal joint red, the two 

 following pitchy red, the rest pitchy; the 1st joint not 

 swollen on the upper side, but Avith a rough spot bearing 

 a few long hairs, the other joints with sparing setjc. Head 

 on the upper side blackish, shining, the middle part nearly 

 on a level with the antennal elevation, on the inner side 

 of this latter is a curved impression ; these impressions 

 are much abbreviated behind, so that they are far from 

 meeting ; the vertex is quite flat and bears a distinct fovea 

 in the middle ; the surface is sparingly sprinkled Avith fine 

 punctures. Thorax strongly transverse, reddish, very 

 shining, channelled along the middle; the surface Avith 

 excessively obsolete, sparing, fine punctures, only to be 

 detected on a careful examination Avith a high power; the 

 hind angles obtuse, the impression near the hind angle 

 small. Elytra just as broad as the thorax, about ^ lin. in 

 length and f lin. in breadth, shining red, Avith the suture 

 and outer and hind margins indistinctly blackish, each 

 Avith fiA-e moderately fine strife, Avliich are indistinctly 

 punctured. Hind body broad and parallel, pitchy, rather 

 coarsely and closely pimctured; segments 2 — 4 each Avith 

 a smooth space in the middle behind, the punctures on 

 the corresponding ])ai't of the 5th segment more sparing 

 than at the base, the 6th ev^enly and distinctly punctured 

 throughout; its extreme hind margin reddish, as are the 



