Prof. 8. Maulik on a new Hispid Beetle. A51 
LVI.—A new Hispid Beetle injurious to Nipa Palm. By S. 
Mauttx, Professor of Zoology in the University of Calcutta. 
TurouGH the courtesy of Dr. G. A. K. Marshall I have had 
the opportunity of examining the following species, which is 
reported to be injurious to Nipa palms in the Federated 
Malay States. It belongs to the genus Plesispa, Chapuis 
(Gen. Col. vol. ii. 1875, p. 290), which contains only one 
species—P. reichet, Chap.,—from which the present insect is 
guite different. 
Plesispa nipe, sp. n. 
Upperside subnitid, elytra brownish black, with the lateral 
margins and the base dark red-brown ; eyes black ; the head, 
the pronotum, and the antenne dark red-brown, the latter 
jn some specimens suffused with black. Underside lighter 
‘ brown, portions of the several segments of the legs being 
darker brown. 
Plesispa nipe, Maulik. 
Head : interocular space elevated into a well-defined area 
which is broader than long, with a coarsely punctate surface 
and a median suleation; produced between the antenne into 
a sharp process, which is grooved on the upper side—in this 
character this species differs from P. reiche/, in which the 
interantennal process is broader and truncate at the apex. 
