20 Mr. T. V. WoUaston on the Coleoptera of St. Helena. 



in fovea) insertaj ; art's 1"^° et 2do longiusculis (illo paulo robus- 

 tiore curvato), Sti" ad S^i"^ longitudine subsequalibus, latitudine 

 leviter crescentibus, reliquis clavam elongatam laxam sat abruptam 

 pilosam 3-articulatam efficientibus (9"° et 10™° intus obsolete sub- 

 productis, ult™° subgloboso). Pedes breviusculi, subgraciles ; tlhiis 

 rectis, ad apicem muticis ; tarsis pseudotetrameris, art" 1'"° qiiara 2'^"' 

 in auterioribtis vix sed in posticis multo longiore, 2*^0 paulo latiore, 

 .ad apicem leviter eraarginato, S'""" latiorem bUobum recipiente ; 

 nnguiculis appendiculatis. 



I have thought it desirable to give a fresh (and slightly 

 amended) diagnosis of this interesting genus, not merely on 

 account of its extreme eccentricity, but because, in conjunction 

 •with Microxylohius, Nesiotes, and Trac/u/phloeosomo, of the 

 ■Cu7-ctiltonid(e, it is amongst the most characteristic and truly 

 ■indigenous of the Coleopterous forms which have hitherto been 

 detected in ^St. Helena. Indeed it is difficult to overrate the 

 importance, in a small insular catalogue, of a group like the 

 present one — combining as it does the structural features of the 

 Anthribidce with the external outline and aspect of the genuine 

 Curculionids ; and I may add that the great specific dissimi- 

 larity of the four representatives enunciated below induces me 

 to suspect still (as I did in 1861, when only two of them had 

 been brought to light) that there are many Noti'oxeni, of a 

 more or less intermediate facies, yet to be discovered, and for 

 which therefore we may confidently look. Apart from its 

 singular Curculionideous contour, Notioxenus is remarkable 

 amongst its immediate congeners for (more especially) its 

 transverse prothoracic keel being considerably removed from 

 the immediate base of the prothorax, and for being replaced in 

 one of the species (theiVi Bewickii^ which I have nevertheless 

 regarded as the type of the genus) by an impressed line. In 

 both instances, however, the line (whether channel or keel) is 

 more or less arcuate, or very gradually and slightly curved 

 towards either side ; but it is not produced at right angles, in 

 any degree Avhatsoever, along the lateral edges of the pro- 

 notum. The sculpture of the Nofioxeni varies greatly, accord- 

 ing to the species ; but they appear to be ornamented with 

 (sometimes obscure) patches and bands, either on the surface 

 itself or (more often) produced by the short and somewhat 

 paler decumbent pubescence with which they are more or less 

 clothed. Whether they possess any saltatory power (as in 

 Arceocerus) I have not yet been able to ascertain. 



§ I. Linea prothoracica impressa, canaliculum efficiens. 



53. Notioxenus Bewickn. 



N. fusco-niger, subopacus, impunctatus sed minutissime obsoleteque 



