267 



Haplopsis. 

 Duly five species attributable to this genus have been 

 described, and I have no adaitions to make to them. They 

 closely resemble each other supei^cially, and are not likely 

 to be confused with any species of any other genus on ac- 

 count of their elytra being ornamented with wide, longitudi- 

 nal stripes of whitish pilosity, the intervals between whicli 

 are glabrous, or nearly so. I have selected this superficial 

 character to distinguish the genus in the tabulation of genera 

 (vidt AutomolusJ, because I have not been able to discover 

 any reliable structural character to separate JIaplojm.'s from 

 the extremely heterogeneous aggregate L'iiKirttruti. Bur- 



meister selects for this purpose the concealment of the propy- 

 gidiuni under the elytra (or, rather, what I have pointed 

 out above is the corresponding character on the ventral sur- 

 face, viz., the shortening of the otli ventral segment as com- 

 pared with the 4th); but there is a distinct tendency in tl- 

 females of Ila'ploy^'ix to a lengthening and protrusion of the 

 propygidium, and I have before me females of at least two 

 species of Haplopsix in which the propygidium is as fully ex- 

 posed as in many Liparefri, and the 5th ventral segment 

 quite decidedly longer than the 4th. The most that can be 

 made of this character, therefore, is that in Liparefri/s the 

 propygidium is exposed and the 5th ventral segment elon- 

 gated, while in Haplopsis normally the propygidium is con- 

 cealed, and the 5th ventral segment not longer than the 4th. 

 The structure of the front tibiae is intermediate between that 

 of Liparetrus and Automolus, there being two adjacent ex- 

 ternal teeth close to the apex, and one (much smaller) about 

 halfway between the intermediate tooth and the base of the 

 tibia. These characters, together with the constant charac- 

 teristic vestiture of the elytra, seem to indicate the generic 

 validity of Haplopsis. I have already discussed the synonymy 

 of the species described by the earlier authors (vide 

 Tr.R.S.S.A., 1898, p. 48), and need not refer to it further. 

 The following table shows the distinctive characters of the 

 known species : — 



A Front of clypens strongly, and decid- 

 edly angularly, omarginate in both 



B. Dorsal curiae.' I)lackisli, scarcely 

 metallic; }>r<)iiatinu and pygidinm 

 deeply punctulate ... ... ... lineoligera. Blanch 



IIB. Dorsal surface ([uite hright-green : 

 pronotum and pygidinm vei'y light- 

 ly punctulate ... ... ... ... viridis. BUickh. 



AA. Front of cly])eus not as A in .eitlier 

 sex. 



