Species of Curculionidae from Africa. 393 



Subfamily Xipeaspidin^:, nov. 

 Genus Xiphaspis, nov. 



Head exserted, strongly constricted behind the eyes, 

 which are large, transverse, and with their upper edge raised 

 above the level of the vertex. Rostrum normally deflected 

 at a right angle to the long axis of the body, nearly as long 

 as the pronotum ; the scrobes extending narrowly a short 

 distance in front of the antennae, but behind them broad 

 and passing almost immediately beneath the rostrum ; 

 mandibles somewhat exserted, bidentate, bare ; peduncle of 

 the submentum forming an almost equilateral triangle, the 

 mentum small and extremely narrow, bare and smooth. 

 Antenna inserted at the middle of the rostrum in both sexes ; 

 the scape as long as the fuuicle and not nearly reaching the 

 eye; the club very large, longer than the fuuicle, solid and 

 subcylindrical. Prothorax transverse, strongly narrowed in 

 front and sloping steeply forwards, bisinuate at the base 

 and fitting closely to the elytra, without postocular lobes. 

 Scutellum very long and dagger-like, extending for more 

 than one-third the length of the elytra, and gradually 

 tapering to a sharp point ; the base broadly raised and 

 produced narrowly on each side along the base of the elytra 

 as far as interval 2. Elytra subquadrate, broader at the 

 shoulders than the base of the prothorax, very deeply and 

 jointly trisinuate at the base, separately rounded at the apex, 

 deeply sinuate on the lateral margins, and with only nine 

 striae, the 2nd and 9th alone uniting at the apex. Wings 

 functional. Legs with the front coxae contiguous, the mid 

 pair very widely separated, slightly more so than the hind 

 pair, which are separated from the elytral margin by a 

 distance much greater than their own width ; the femora 

 gradually clavate, each with a sharp tooth, the hind pair not 

 reaching the apex of the elytra ; the tibise rather compressed 

 and mucronate ; the tarsi normal, moderately slender, joint 2 

 as long as or longer than broad, 3 rather wider, 4 nearly as 

 long as the rest together, the claws strongly appendiculate. 

 Sternum : the front coxae very close to the hind margin of 

 the prosternum, with no centro-sternal tubercle ; central 

 mesosternal piece almost vertical and very broadly truncate 

 behind, the side-pieces fused together, the mesepimeron 

 slightly ascending ; the metasternum between the coxae 

 nearly twice as long as the mid-coxae, very deep dorso- 

 ventrally, the epistemuni consequently very broad and 



