MELYRIDAE. 617 



Group Melyridae. 

 Dasytes Paykull. Man. N.Z. Coleopt., p. 328. 



4186. Dasytes violascens sp. nov. 



Subdepressed, elongate, opaque ; dark violaceous, antennae and tarsi 

 somewhat piceous ; pubescence short, curled, greyish, more scanty on the 

 head and thorax. 



Head, including the large, prominent eyes, evidently broader than 

 thorax, slightly bi-impressed in front, finely and distantly punctate. Thorax 

 of equal length and breadth, widest and obtusely angulate before the middle, 

 deeply constricted in front, slightly narrowed behind, posterior angles 

 subrectangular but obtuse, base and apex truncate, lateral and basal 

 margins not sharply defined ; its punctation like that of the head, the 

 whole surface densely and minutely sculptured. Scutellum rather small, 

 subquadrate. Elytra thrice the length of thorax, rather broader than 

 it is at the base, a little wider near the hind thighs, their broadly rounded 

 apices not covering the pygidium ; they are distinctly and moderately 

 closely punctured. 



Legs long and slender, with dark pubescence ; tarsi fully equalling 

 tiie tibiae in length, basal joint of the anterior with a short curvate 

 prolongation underneath. 



Antennae elongate, reaching backwards to the middle thighs ; basal 

 joint stout, second subquadrate, third and fourth equal, rather more 

 serrate than the following ones. 



Distinguishable at once from D. helmsi (2035) by its smaller size, more 

 cyaneous hue, nearly white vestiture, much broader head, longer 

 antennae, &c. The eyes are entire, and the claws are thickened under- 

 neath for half their length. 



<J. Length, 4 mm. ; breadth, 1^ mm. 



Mount Owen. Nelson. One only, caught by Mr. T. Hall on the 26th 

 December, 1914. 



4187. Dasytes clavatus sp. nov. 



Elongate, slightly convex, nitid, covered with moderately slender, sub- 

 decumbent greyish setae ; fuscous, faintly aeneous, the legs and basal 

 third of antennae more or less chestnut-red. 



Head, the large prominent eyes inclusive, slightly broader than the 

 widest part of thorax, broadly bi-impressed in front ; finely yet distinctly 

 and moderately closely punctured. Thorax as broad as long, widest and 

 obtusely prominent at or just behind the middle, widely contracted in 

 front of that point, its margins obsolete there but more definite behind 

 and at the base ; its sculpture like that of the head. Scutellum transverse. 

 Elytra with obtusely porrect shoulders, thrice the length of thorax, 

 broader than it is at the base, only slightly wider near the hind thighs, 

 their broadly rounded apices covering the abdomen ; each side of the 

 suture, near the base, and the shoulders are slightly and quite obtusely 

 elevated, their punctation is a little coarser than that of the thorax. 



Antennae finely pubescent, attaining the intermediate femora, moderately 

 stout ; basal joint subpyriform, the next nearly as long as the third, which 

 is rather shorter than fourth ; joints 5-10 slightly subserrate, the terminal 

 conical, about double the size of the penultimate, its basal half concave 

 underneath. 



