286 Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker on 



The genitalia are very distinctive ; the clasps are unusually broad 

 and are somewhat excised on the upper margin near the base, as will 

 be seen from the figure (PI. XVI, fig. 11), after which they rise in 

 an even curve, and at a third from the tip they taper off into a 

 tusk-like projection at the upper apex, below which the front edge 

 recedes and is faintly dentate to the lower apex, which is i)roduced 

 very slightly forwards in a dentate termination ; the bristles are of 

 moderate length and are not numerous ; the tegumen is of moderate 

 dimensions, deeply excavated to the back ridge, which is narrow; 

 the cheeks or sides are almost lobed, and the falces are stout and of 

 a fair length ; the bristles are very fine and plentiful on the lobes ; 

 the aedoeagus is of the usual type, shortish, rather narrow, the 

 reduction taking place near the centre, from where it gradually 

 tapers off to the j)ointed apex. The tectorius is but weakly 

 develoiied. 



I regret I have been unable to procure specimens of this 

 insect so as to figure the androconia, the only specimens 

 I have been able to examine being those in the National 

 Collection. 



Tarucus theophrastus, Fabricius. Plates XIV, figs. 12, 12rt; 

 XVI, fig. 12; XVIII and XX, figs. 29, 32-31. 



Hesj)enn IheopJtrastiis, Fabricius, Ent. Svst., iii, p. 281, 

 No. 82 (1793). 



If it has been difficult to give a satisfactory diagnosis 

 of the pattern in most of the species dealt with in Section I, 

 it is even more difficult to give one for the type sf)ecies 

 of the genus. Even Moore, whose eye for minute differ- 

 ences in pattern and general aspect was far more keen 

 and critical than any one I have known, failed with this 

 species. 



The colour of the upperside may be violet blue or lilac 

 blue. I have specimens from 8ouk Arras (Algeria) that 

 are violet blue of a solid texture, and in one case it has a 

 very large black spot, closing the cell with an angled dash 

 beyond it. Examples from Asia Minor in my collection 

 (exact locality unknown) may be very similar in colour 

 to the Algerian ones, but more generally they are lilac 

 blue and are decidedly transparent; all, however, have 

 a prominent spot closing the cell. Bhuj (India) and 

 Lahej (Aden) specimens are similar to the hlac ones, but 

 with a finer mark closing the cell, whilst a pair from Senegal 



