SuHarp— On New Zealand Coleoptera. 393 
Cathartocryptus obscurus, n. sp.—-Oblongus, subdepressus, sordide ferrugincus, 
elytris pedibusque testaceis, prothorace elytrisque plus minusve argute nigro quad- 
rimaculatis; thorace crebre sat subtiliter punctato, elytris subtiliter seriatim 
punctatis, seriebus apicem versus deletis, interstitiis subtilissime punctulatis. 
Long. 23 m.m. (Plate xu, fig. 24.) 
Antennz short and stout, club large, about as long as the six joints preceding 
it. Head short, very finely punctulate, nearly dull. Thorax strongly transverse, 
about twice as broad as long, the surface rather closely and finely punctate, with a 
more or less distinct black spot on the middle, the sides distinctly narrowed 
behind, hind angles very minutely prominent. Scutellum transverse. Elytra, 
with series of fine punctures, which disappear before the apex, with two black spots 
just before the middle, and a common spot in front of the apex. 
Picton, Helms, three examples. Cathartus advena and Silvanus bidentatus are representatives of 
other genera near this, and have been found in New Zealand. 
SAPHOPHAGUS (nov. gen. ). 
Corpus minutum, depressum, nudum, Antenne crassiuscule undecim articulate, 
articulis tribus ultimis paulo majoribus. Prosternum magnum; coxz anteriores 
globose, acetabulis clausis, parum distantes, processu post his sat elongato. 
Coxe intermedize minute; metasternum longissimum. Coxe posteriores parum 
distantes. Abdomen e segmentis ventralibus quinque parum elongatis com- 
positum. Tarsi quinque articulati, articulis quatuor basalibus brevissimis, quinto 
elongato. 
This very minute creature is not at all closely allied to any other form 
known to me, and from its appearance as well as from the characters I can 
observe pretty certainly belongs to the Clavicorn series; and the only families in 
this series its facies suggests that it may possibly be a member of are the Colydiide, 
Cucujidz, or Cryptophagide. I think I have seen with certainty that the 
tarsi are five-jointed, and the former of these three families may therefore 
be left out of consideration; while the latter two are so feebly differentiated 
that, as this genus has no special ally in either, it is a matter of little import- 
ance in which it is placed provisionally. As the coxal cavities are nearly always 
open behind in Cryptophagidee, whereas in the genus I am at present con- 
sidering they appear to me closed, I decide on placing it in Cucujide. 
Only two examples of the insect having been found, I do not think it desirable 
at present to break one of them up, and the structure must therefore be left 
largely undescribed. But the remarkable elongation of the metasternum, which 
is considerably longer than all the ventral segments together, will greatly 
facilitate the recognition of the form. The antennz are inserted quite close 
3G 2 
