SILPHIDAE. 609 



Group SlLPHIDAE. 



Choleva Latreille. Man. N.Z. Coleopt., p. 151. 



4174. Choleva crenatella sp. nov. 



Oblong-oval, slightly convex, moderately nitid ; fuscous, the head, 

 hind angles of thorax, legs, palpi, and basal half of antennae light castaneo- 

 rufous ; sparingly clothed with decumbent, elongate, slender flavescent 

 hairs. 



Head immersed up to the eyes, trigonal, finely, distantly, but quite 

 definitely punctate, interantennal suture straight and slender. Eyes 

 prominent, occupying the extremity of the lateral angles. Thorax almost 

 twice as broad as long, its sides nearly straight behind, slightly curvedly 

 narrowed towards the obtuse anterior angles, base subtruncate, its rect- 

 angular angles just perceptibly directed backwards ; its sculpture very 

 fine, consisting apparently of minute distant granules. Scutellum small. 

 Elytra with rounded shoulders, nearly thrice the length of thorax, of about 

 the same width at the base, tapering gradually towards the singly rounded 

 apices, which do not cover the pygidium ; sutural striae well marked but 

 becoming finer behind, they are transversely strigos^, each line minutely 

 crenulate. 



Antennae as long as head and thorax, finely pubescent, gradually 

 incrassate and infuscate from the third joint onwards ; basal three joints 

 elongate, the first slightly longer and thicker ; sixth quadrate, a little shorter 

 than fourth or fifth, seventh larger than sixth, eighth extremely short, 

 ninth and tenth slightly shorter and broader than seventh, the terminal 

 conical. 



Tibiae finely setose, bispinose at the extremity, the anterior almost 

 straight but gradually thickened, posterior more slender, the intermediate 

 distinctly curved. Basal three jcints of front tarsi cordate and strongly 

 dilated, the fourth much less so ; the posterior pair longer and more slender 

 than the intermediate. 



Underside light chestnut-red, with depressed yellowish pubescence, 

 minutely and indistinctly sculptured. Mesosternum not carinate. Abdomen 

 with six visible segments, the last minutely granulate. 



cJ. Length (head exserted), 2^ mm. ; breadth, quite 1 mm. 



Rotoiti, Nelson. Two males, one damaged and mounted on its back, 

 found by Mr. T. Hall on the 3rd June, 1916. 



4175. Choleva flectipes sp. nov. 



Oblong-cval, slightly attenuate posteriorly, slightly convex, subopaque, 

 head and thorax moderately nitid ; covered with depressed elongate hairs, 

 those on the thorax yellowish, darker and feather-like on the elytra ; 

 fuscous, the head, sides of thorax, and base of elytra more or less rufescent, 

 legs and antennae chestnut-red. 



Head trigonal, distinctly but not closely punctate, the interantennal 

 and frontal sutures straight. Thorax hardly twice as broad as long, apex 

 slightly but widely emarginate with rounded, slightly deflexed angles, the 

 sides finely margined and moderately curvedly narrowed before the middle ; 

 base feebly bisinuate so that its angles extend but little backwards ; its 

 sculpture indefinite and distant, appearing minutely granulate. Scutellum 

 small, triangular. Elytra almost thrice the length of thorax, very gradually 

 and only moderately narrowed towards the broadly rounded apices ; sutural 



