Longicornia Malayana. 261 



Batocera. 

 Batocera, Laporte de Castelnau, Hist. Nat. Ins. ii. 470. 



Capuf antice sub-transversum ; clypeo disti'ncto, supra arcuato; 



tuberibus antenniferis validis, divergentibus, basi contiguis. 



Oculi magni, profunde emarginati, parte inferior! os fere 



attingente. Antenna ($) saepe corpore duplo longiores, 



scabrae, vel denticulatse, articulorum apicibus aliquando spi- 



noso-productis, ( $ ) breviores, minus rugosae vel denticulatae ; 



scapo valido, apice incrassato et valde cicatricoso ; articulo 



tertio cseteris multo longiori ; sequentibus sensim brevioribus. 



Prothorax transversus, utrinque fortiter spinosus, basi bisi- 



nuatus, antice et postice transversim corrugatus. Elytra 



oblonga, apicem versus sensim attenuata, ( 2 magis ovata), 



apicibus truncatis, saepissime bispinosis, humeris producto- 



spinosis. Pec?es longiusculi ; /ewjora sub-linearia, antica ( ^) 



scabra; tibia anticse curvatae, (^ ) subtus denticulatae ; tarsi 



breves, articulis tribus basalibus triangularibus, antici {$) 



articulo primo extus producto, ultimo praecedentibus fere 



aequali. Pro- et meso-sterna simplicia. Abdominis segmento 



ultimo ( $ ) supra saepissime detecto. 



M. de Castelnau includes Anoplosthcela and Plectrodera in this 



genus, and consequently he is unable to take advantage of the 



very decided characters afforded by the antennae and elytra, which 



at once distinguish Batocera from all the other genera in this 



sub-family. Batocera rubus, Lin.,* the type, is found all over the 



East Indies, and extends from the Isle of France to Australia, (in 



the latter country, however, probably introduced, as it has been in 



Europe), but, oddly enough, it does not seem to have been met 



with by Mr. Wallace. The genus is one of the finest among the 



Coleoptera, B. Wallacei sometimes measuring eleven inches in 



length from the hind tarsi to the extremity of the antennae ; but at 



the same time, owing to various modifications of colour, it is one 



of the most difficult in regard to the differentiation of the species ; 



in many cases it is impossible to distinguish them without the aid 



of a suite of specimens. The species are mostly found on fallen 



timber ; and they fly about in the evening as well as in the hottest 



sunshine. 



* M. Raup (Einige Ceramb. &c.) considers the Lamia rubus, Fab., to be 

 distinct from the Linnsean species, and has named it Balocera Wieneckii. 



