DIDREPANEPHOBUS. 51 



becoming rather abruptly vertical. The lower surface and legs 

 are, like the upper surface, closely pubescent. The prosternuin 

 forms behind a slightly prominent, but scarcely elevated lobe, and 

 the niesosternuiii is not produced. The front tibia is short, 

 abruptly excised at the base, and armed with three sharp teeth 

 externally, the two terminal ones close together. The middle 

 and hind tibiae are without distinct ridges or spines at the outer 

 edges. The joints of the tarsus, except the claw-joint, are very 

 short, and the outer claw on each of the four posterior feet is 

 deeply bifid. 



d 1 . The clypeus is bent downwards at an angle to the front 

 and between the enormously enlarged mandibles, which are pro- 

 duced forwards and upwards as a pair of sharply-pointed, strongly- 

 curved tusks, parallel to each other, and probably capable of little 

 or no movement. Each bears a sharp tooth a little beyond the 

 base upon the upper edge, pointing obliquely outwards and 

 forwards. The four basal joints of the front tarsus are extremely 

 short and broad, and the fourth bears a broad internal lobe,, 

 which is finely striated upon the upper surface ; the claw-joint is 

 very greatly enlarged and strongly curved, and the inner claw is 

 very large, not toothed, and folds back so that its tip rests upon 

 the lobe of the penultimate joint (see fig. 6). The four basal joints 

 of the abdomen are excessively short, the last two moderately long, 

 and the pygidium very convex and strongly incurved, so as to be 

 almost invisible from above. 



$ . The clypeus is feebly bilobed and reflexed, the mandibles of 

 normal size and slightly bilobed laterally. The abdomen is 

 moderately long, not completely covered by the elytra, with the 

 pygidium rather short and not very convex. The inner front- 

 claw bears a short tooth near the middle of its lower edge. 



22. Didrepanephorus bifalcifer. (Plate I, figs. 5 & 6.) 



Didrepanephorus bifalcifer, Wood-Mason,* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 

 (5) ii, 1878, p. 423, fig. 



Yellowish brown, with the head and scutelluin reddish, and the 

 elytra becoming gradually darker near the posterior margins, but 

 the dark colour ending abruptly before the terminal declivity, 

 which, with the pygidium, legs, and lower surface, is pale yellow 

 in colour. 



The body is rather cylindrical in shape, but not very long. 

 The pubescence with which it is everywhere clothed is fairly long 

 upon the head, legs, and lower surface, and shortest upon the 

 scutellum and elytra. Upon the latter irregular scattered punc- 

 tures are visible. The prouotum is relatively large and strongly 

 humped above in both sexes, with the sides strongly angulated in 

 the middle and nearly straight from there to the front angles, 

 which are acutely produced, and to the hind angles, which are 

 obtuse. Both front and hind margins are trisinuated. 



cJ . The body is shorter and broader than that of the female,. 



E2 



