408 Mr. A. M. Lea's Notes on 



Cryptocephalus fallens, n. sp. 

 (Plate XXV, fig. 169.) 



(^ . Of a rather dingy flavous ; protliorax (the sides more or less 

 diluted) pale reddish-testaceous ; basal half of head, antennfe (four 

 basal joints excepted), scutellum and junction of prothorax and 

 elytra black ; suture and shoulders, sides of metasternum and the 

 tarsi infuscate. 



Head densely and rather finely punctate, base strigose. Antennae 

 moderately thin, shorter than the body, second joint almost as long 

 as third, third and fourth subequal and distinctly shorter than fifth. 

 Protliorax not twice as wide as long, strongly convex, oblique 

 impressions indistinct but fairly deep ; densely and coarsely punctate, 

 punctures smaller on disc than elsewhere. Scutdlum triangular, 

 base entire. Ehjtra diminishing in width from base to apex, sub- 

 humeral lobes rather large ; densely moderately coarsely and sub- 

 seriately punctate, the punctures becoming smaller and more 

 regular posteriorly. Apex of prosternwn very wide and feebly 

 bilobed. Intermediate segments of abdomen strongly incurved to 

 but continuous across middle. 



Length 2| mm. 



5 . Differs in having the antenn;B shorter and thinner, the elytra 

 with smaller punctures (especially posteriorly) and almost as wide 

 at apex as at base ; intermediate segments of abdomen moderately 

 large, the fourth just traceable across middle, fovea larger than usual 

 and without lateral extensions. 



Length 3 mm. 



Hah. S. Australia (Maclcay Museum). 



In some female specimens the third joint only of the 

 four front tarsi is infuscate, whilst the flanks of the meta- 

 sternum appear to be always less dark in the female than 

 in the male ; the dark portion of the head has occasionally 

 a slight greenish gloss. 



The species is unusually small for Cryptocephalus, looking 

 more at home in Loxoijlcurus, but the bilobed apex of 

 presternum forbid its being placed in that genus. In 

 appearance it is much like a small specimen of Cr. conjugatus, 

 Chp. From the description of Lox. vcrticalis, Chp., it 

 differs in its dark scutellum (with its base entire) and 

 metasternum. 



