CNEMACANTHIDAE. 351 
puncture near each eye and on the side of the forehead. Thorax of about 
equal length and breadth, base and apex subtruncate, its indefinitely crenu- 
late sides rather wider near the front than elsewhere, gradually narrowed 
backwards, more strongly behind the middle, nearly straight at the base, 
and with distinct, rectangular, subacute angles there; disc nearly plane, 
obsoletely transversely striate, with many short, distinct, longitudinal striae 
in front, those near the base less regular, the central channel well marked 
but not attaiming the base or apex; basal fossae rather large and deep, 
a third of the entire length, more or less rugosely punctate, similar but 
finer sculpture exists near the anterior angles, and near each side, before 
the middle, there is a more or less obvious fovea; the lateral channels are 
somewhat expanded in front. Elytra oblong-oval, rather more than double 
the length of thorax, a third broader, with curvedly narrowed shoulders : 
they slope gradually towards the sides, so that the margins and nearly 
flat channels are quite conspicuous throughout when looked at from above ; 
they are not perceptibly striate, but each has 4 inner series of fine punctures, 
the 5th and 6th are slightly coarser, and the latter is bordered externally 
by an indefinite costa, the lateral 3 series of punctures are more irregular 
and a little larger but neither very deep nor coarse, and the usual smooth 
space near the side is absent or hardly discernible ; interstices nearly plane, 
with dense, fine coriaceous sculpture. 
Legs moderately stout, anterior and intermediate tibiae somewhat pro- 
minent at the outer extremity, posterior simple. Antennae pubescent from 
the 5th jomt onwards, their last joint reaches the middle of the thorax. 
Underside glossy black, the sides of the breast and basal ventral segment 
more or less irregularly but not coarsely punctured, remaining segments 
finely transversely strigose, the terminal with a pair of apical punctures 
at each side of the middle. 
A careful examination of the elytra, of their sides particularly, will at 
once enable students to separate this from our recorded species. 
Length, 30-32 mm.; breadth, 10 mm. 
Hollyford, north-west of Lake Wakatipu. Mr. T. Hall found four, half 
of them damaged, at a height of 3,500 ft., on the 19th February, 1914. 
3785. Mecodema chiltoni sp. nov. 
Elongate, moderately convex and nitid; black, tips of palpi rufescent, 
elytral interstices faintly so. 
Head narrower than the thoracic apex, with longitudinal rugae in front 
and a few irregular ones near the prominent eyes, elsewhere smooth and 
impunctate. Thorax a fourth broader than long, base and apex sub- 
truncate and with fine ferruginous cilia, very gradually narrowed from the 
front backwards, somewhat abruptly contracted near the base, but without 
sharply defined angles there; disc apparently smooth, the central groove 
well marked but hardly reaching the base or apex, basal fossae rather small : 
lateral margins simple, the channels rather broader in front than behind. 
Klytra elongate, rather wider than the thorax and almost thrice its length ; 
each tricostate, 3rd little more than half the breadth of the Ist and with 
4 or 5 punctures, the intermediate sometimes bipunctate ; between these 
and the almost equally costiform suture there are double series of rather 
indistinct fine punctures, on the interval between the 3rd costa and the. 
usual smooth sublateral space the punctation is very irregular, and, though 
coarser, not very deep; the whole sculpture becomes indistinct near the 
extremity. 
