Coleopterous Family Dermestidte. 433 



tlie lateral margin but not quite extending to the suture, and 

 another nearly round terminal patch leaving only the 

 extreme apex black. 



Genus PsACUS. 



This genus, formed by Pascoe for an Australian insect and 

 placed by him in the Rhipiceiicla', in reality belongs to the 

 Dermestidffi, being a highly developed form related to T'ogo- 

 denjia. The antennae, in the male especially, have attained 

 an extraordinary development, and the sides of the prothorax 

 in that sex are much dilated, to form a large cavity beneath 

 for the reception of the great fan-like club. This and the 

 large size of the female give the two sexrs a strikingly 

 different aspect. The possession of a frontal ocellus, over- 

 looked by Pascoe, and many other features leave no doubt as 

 to the true affinities of the insect. Trogoderma serriger^ 

 Sharp, from New Zealand, is a nearly related species. 



Genus Ctesias. 



The name Tiresias was substituted for Ctesias by Newman, 

 on the ground that the latter name had been previously used 

 by Hiibner; but Hiibner's genus is Chesias, so that Tiresias 

 is redundant. 



The South-African species here described has little super- 

 ficial resemblance to the oiily hitherto known species, C. serra, 

 F., but the form of the antenna, the only really distinctive 

 feature of the genus, is practically identical, and, as there 

 seems to be no structural difference of any importance, I put 

 the two insects together. If, as is possible, the identity 

 in the structure of the antennae is only the result of parallel 

 development, then the genus Ctesias ceases to have any 

 justification, and both insects must be regarded as only 

 aberrant species of Trogoderma. 



Ctesias variegata, sp. n. 



Nigra, elytris hie illic obscure rufo-variegatis, corpora subtus ubique, 

 supra macuiatim, albido-setoso ; late ovala, crebre punctata, 

 oculis magnis, prope antennas profunde emarginatis, pronoto lato, 

 postice fortiter lobato, lobo rotundato ; elytrorum apicibus sepa- 

 ratim rotundatis ; autennis tarsisque rufis, harum clava magna, 

 3-articulata, articulis antice valde lobatis, funiculo brevissimo. 



Long. 3"5 mm. 



Hah. Ehodesia . Salisbury. 



