209 
Descriptions of Australian Curculionid/e, with 
Notes on Previously Described Species. 
By AiiTHLit ^i. Lea. 
Part III. 
[Read October 3, 1905. J • 
SUB-FAMILY OTiORliYNClllDES. 
Myllocekus and Allied Genera. 
There is a very natural grou]) of the (Jfi()rln/iirln(l('.<, of 
which M ijU()ci'ru>< is the leading genus, that is abundantly 
re]jresented in Australia. The species are all comparatively 
small, and live on foliage ; many of them are clothed witl" 
green scales, which to the naked eye are sufficiently beautiful, 
but which, under the microscope, are almost dazzling ; under 
that instrument also scales ajDparently the most sober greys 
and fawns take on a lovely appearance. The species are most 
numerous in the tropics, and become sparser and more soberly 
coloured the greater the distance from the equator ; from Tas- 
mania the group appears to be entirely absent.^ Mr. Pascoe 
proposed a number of genera allied to M [/lloccrus, but it is 
very doubtful if they will all be maintained. He regarded 
the bisinuation of the base of the prothorax as the main dis- 
tinguishing feature of M //lIorer//s^ but this is a variable 
character, and at least two species (ignaria and hicolor ) have 
been referred to Tit in id, in which the base is bisinuate. 
I do not know a single external character which alone is 
sufficient to denote the sex of a specimen ; where the sexes are 
before one they can sometimes be distinguished by the greater 
size of the females : in some species also the scape is consider- 
ablv stouter in one sex than in the other : the shape of the 
prothorax is also not always the same : but these characters 
are useless for ascertaining the sex of unique specimens. 
The scales are usually so dense that the derm cannot be 
seen, and the shape and positions of the punctures are seldom 
traceable : consequently, before describing the new species, I 
have always considered it necessary to partially abrade at 
least one specimen. By doing this oreat differences can be 
seen to exist in the punctures of the prothorax (and to a less 
extent of the elytra), and of which absolutely no sign was 
visible before abrasion. 
* It is true that Myllocerus speciosus was described as from 
^Ve.stei-n Australia and Tasmania, but I do not believe that it. 
«r any other species of MyUocerus, occurs in Tasmania. 
