137 



'distinction he indicates from Platisus is "the denticulate margins 

 of the prothorax," and Erickson in describing P. obsounis had 

 written "margine (thoracis) denticulate." I suppose Pascoe 

 anust have compared his insect with some specimen that was 

 wrongly named Platisus and have not referred to the diagaosis 

 •of the genus. I have not seen any previous note of this 

 synonymy. 



I. hicolor, OllifF. This insect is certainly not a Platisus, and 

 1 can find no reason to separate it from Gucujus. It has the 

 basal joint of the tarsi vary short It must be extraordinarily 

 •close to Gucujus coloniarius, OllifF. Their author published the 

 description of the two in the same memoir and stated that the 

 >two had been taken in company. Both descriptions are decidedly 

 lengthy and yet almost identical ; comparing them together the 

 •only definite points of difference I can find are that the clypeus 

 in coloniarius is "truncate" in front and in bicolor "very 

 •slightly emarginate," the antennae in coloniarius " rather longer 

 than" (in hicolor " about as long as ") the head and prothorax, 

 the sides of the prothorax in coloniarius ^^ iQQh\y serrate" (in 

 hicolor "provided with short blunt teeth"), the scutellum in 

 coloniarius "rounded" (in bicolor "somewhat pointed") behind, 

 ^nd a few other such slight variation of terms ; also the under- 

 surface of coloniarius is called " black" (without qualification) 

 and that of bicolor " black, with the abdominal segments rather 

 bright red." Various characters — e.g. those of the angles of the 

 prothorax — are described in respect of one or other only of the 

 two (if they are two) species. Strange to say, although he 

 described on successive pages of his memoir these two insects 

 taken in company, of practically the same size, and evidently of 

 remarkable superficial similarity inter se, OUiff makes no remark 

 •on their resemblance to each other and does not mention the 

 •characters of either in describing the other. Nevertheless I am 

 •disposed to believe that he had before him two valid species of 

 Gucujus on the following grounds : — I liave before me specimens 

 of an insect which I have taken somewhat freely on the Vic- 

 torian Mountains and 'which there can be no doubt is Ipsaphes 

 hicolor, Oil. (though, as stated above, it is certainly not con 

 generic with I. moerosus, Pasc, Platisus, Er.). In a fairly long 

 series there is not one with a black abdomen — though several 

 have the abdomen slightly spotted with black. In combination 

 with that undoubted color difference, I find that the specimens 

 in question do not agree with the description of coloniarius in an 

 important character, the hind angles of the prothorax being 

 sharply rectangular (even subdentiform), whereas OUiff says 

 that those angles in coloniarius are "rounded" — he does not 

 -specify their character in hicolor. The only conclusion possible 



