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IX. Notes on Aulacophora and allied genera. By Joseph 

 S. Baly, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., &c. 



[Bead February 6th, 1889.J 



A PAPER of mine appeared in the Linnean * Journal,' 

 vol. XX., p. 1 (1886), in which I diagnosed those then 

 known to me of the Indian and African species of 

 Aulacophora, drawing up the characters, as far as 

 possible, on the structural differences of the anal seg- 

 ment of the abdomen, thorax, and other parts ; in 

 the autumn of last year (1888) a second paper was pub- 

 lished in the same Journal, vol. xx., p. 156, which 

 contains the descriptions of other species, which in the 

 interim I had been able to study. In the third part of 

 the French ' Annales,' December, 1888, a Synopsis of 

 this group, together with Diacantha and Hyperacantha, 

 has been published by M. Allard. This paper bears 

 marks of hasty compilation and of insufficient study of 

 the various specific forms ; numerous errors have con- 

 sequently crept in. 



Having for several years made a special study of the 

 group, I shall in the present communication endeavour 

 to point out these errors, feeling sure that if allowed to 

 remain they will add greatly to the difficulties of future 

 students. 



M. Allard has drawn his diagnoses almost exclusively 

 from colour alone, ignoring the characters (so valuable 

 in the present group) derived from structural differences 

 in the anal segment of the abdomen. 



Paridea, a genus characterised by myself (Journ. 

 Linn. Soc, xx., p. 26), is not noticed in the Synopsis; 

 it differs from Hyperacantha, Chapuis, in having all the 

 tibiae armed with a short spine. 



In my two papers on Aulacophora I endeavoured 

 as far as possible to retain the names of the older 

 authors, only rejecting those which, from the short 

 and imperfect diagnosis, and from the destruction or 



TRANS. ENT. SOO. LOND. 1889. — PART II. (jUNE.) 



