CRYPTORHYNCHIDAE. 451 
narrowed posteriorly ; there are about 10 rather slight, unequal, squamose 
elevations before the middle, the largest yet not very prominent pair are 
about equidistant from the suture and base, a smaller pair are close to the 
scutellum, there are also a few small crests near the top of the hind slope ; 
near the shoulders the punctures are moderately coarse, irregular, and 
mingled with blackish granules, along the suture and the hind slope the 
punctation is serial and quite regular. 
Antennae short; scape subclavate, just reaching the front of the eye ; 
funiculus finely pubescent, 2nd joint not longer than the basal, 5th small, 
7th broader than the transverse 6th ; club rather short. 
Underside piceous, irregularly clothed with yellowish scales. The 
perpendicular borders of the pectoral canal extend as far as the back part 
of the middle coxae. Metasternum about the length of the basal seg- 
ment, which is truncate in front, nearly bare and broadly depressed in the 
middle; the next is not much longer than the 5rd or 4th, and bears a 
conspicuous tuft of squamae on the middle. 
According to Sharp’s description of C. obesulus (2184) there are, on the 
basal and external portions of the elytra, rows of punctures interrupted 
by the mequalities of the surface. In C. posticalis, in addition thereto, 
there are regular series of punctures along the suture and the hind slope, 
so I think this species is distinct. My opinion is confirmed by an examina- 
tion of the figure which accompanied the original description in the Trans. 
Roy. Dub. Soc., 1886. 
Length (rostrum exclusive), 5-5} mm.; breadth, 3-3} mm. 
Hollyford. Three specimens found amongst decaying leaves on the 
19th February, 1914, by Mr. T. Hall. 
3939. Xenacalles nigricans sp. nov. Xenacalles Broun, Trans. N.Z. Inst., 
vel. 45, p. 146. 
Opaque, black, rostrum piceo-rufous, antennae and tarsi rufescent ; 
covered chiefly with nigrescent squamae, but depressed tawny ones form 
a streak near each side of the thorax and on the shoulders, sometimes a few 
are scattered over its disc; coarse, elongate, tawny ones form a conspicuous, 
horizontal, sutural crest on the summit of the posterior declivity and a 
pair of smaller ones a little in advance; there are also some erect blackish 
setiform ones near the sides, and 2 or 3 very small, intensely black crests 
appear on the intermediate interstices of the elytra, between the middle 
and the base. 
This resembles X. simplex (3455), but the rostrum is rather shorter 
and more closely punctate throughout, and the scape is medially inserted. 
Thorax of equal length and breadth, widest at the base, gradually narrowed 
towards the front, closely and moderately coarsely punctured. LElytra 
almost double the length of thorax, of the same width as it is at the base, 
slightly broader behind the shoulders, gradually yet considerably narrowed, 
but not quite vertical behind; with moderate, indistinctly punctured 
striae. Legs shghtly variegate, with numerous dark squamiform setae. 
Eyes subrotundate, nearly flat. 
Prosternum entirely dull-black. The scales on the abdomen are almost 
wholly nigrescent, except the greyish ones near the sides of the basal 2 
segments, and they are less coarse and rather more elongate than in 3455. 
The common triangular, sometimes diamond - shaped, mark seen in 
varieties of 1427 is, owing to the coloration, rather indefinite, in 3455 it is 
