232 PERCY SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITION 



25 specimens. I frequently beat this insect from the precinctive species of bush- 

 groundsel Senecio sechellensis, after which I have named it. 



Loc. Seychelles. Silhouette : plateau of Mare aux Cochons and near by, over 

 1000 ft., VIIL— IX. 1908, 14 t collected by Gardiner and Scott. Mah^ : Cascade 

 Estate, about 1000 ft., XIL 1908, 1 $ ; near Morne Blanc, 1908, 1 ^ ; 1 ?, 1905 

 (Gardiner). Also 8 other $ collected by J. A. de Gaye, exact locality not specified. 



COMASERICA Brenske, BerHn. Ent. Zeitschr., xliv. 1899, p. 263 (and table, p. 235 ; 



also table, op. cit. xlii. 1897, p. 356). 



In this genus of Sericinae, among other characters, the anterior tibiae are bidentate ; 

 the antennae 9-jointed, with 3 lamellas in both sexes ; the mentum convexly elevated, the 

 convexity flattened in front ; the thorax has the hind angles rounded off ; the upper 

 surface has setiferous punctures distinct from ordinary punctures ; there is no mesosternal 

 process between the middle coxae, and the metasternum is not impressed in the middle ; 

 the posterior femora are broad at their bases, narrowed towards the apex ; the posterior 

 tibi« cut off obliquely on the inner side at the apex ; the claws of the tarsi are cleft. 



The genus is well defined, and so far known only from Madagascar. 



17. Comaserica granulipennis (Fairmaire). 



Homaloplia granulipennis Fairmaire, Ann. Soc. ent. Belgique, xli. 1897, p. 376. 



Serica granulipennis Alluaud, Liste Coleopt., p. 258. 



Comaserica granulipennis Brenske, Berlin. Ent. Zeitschr., xliv. 1899, p. 266. 



A series of about 34 ^ and 28 ? was collected in Aldabra by Mr Fryer. Specimens 

 were sent to Herr Kapitan Moser, who informed me that the species is distinct from any 

 in Brenske's collection, but suggested that it might be identical with that named by 

 Fairmaire granulipennis and placed by him in Homaloplia. I therefore sent specimens to 

 Monsieur Lesne, who compared them with Fairmaire's type of H. granulipennis at the 

 Paris Museum, and informed me that he considers them identical with that species. He 

 states that the only difference he was able to see lay in the size of the granules at the 

 bases of the set^ on the elytra, which granules are larger and more marked in the type 

 than in the Aldabra specimens. Fairmaire described the elytra as " parsemees de petites 

 soies grises tres courtes et de soies fauves plus longues et hispides." The " hispid yellow 

 hairs" are obvious enough, but what is meant by the "very short little grey hairs" I do 

 not know ; they are not present in any of the Aldabra specimens. As Fairmaire's descrip- 

 tion is not very full, I subjoin the following, made entirely from the series of Aldabra 

 specimens before me : 



Length 5|— 6f mm. ; breadth 3| — 4^ mm. Ovate, broadening behind ; unicolorous 

 reddish-brown, some specimens much darker and a few paler; lamellae of antennae 

 testaceous, in $ about twice as long as joints 1 — 6 together, in ? about as long. Body 

 dull, sometimes with pearly opalescence (but not with coppery sheen), except the clypeus 

 and part of the frons and the tibiae and tarsi, which are shining ; bearing numerous pale 

 yellowish setae erect or leaning backwards. Clypeus about f as long as its breadth at the 



