PSEUDADORETUS. 295 



teeth at the edges. Maxilla short, broad at the end, where it is 

 armed with three very strong short blunt teeth ; palpus clubbed, 

 the last joint very large and ovate. Meutum broad, broadly 

 emarginate at the front margin, with the palpi placed far apart. 

 Mandibles completely separated by the process of the labrum. 



d - The eyes are rather larger and more prominent than those 

 of the female, the pygidium is large and exposed, and the abdomen 

 flat. The antennae are 10-jointed. 



2 . The pygidium is small and almost covered, and the abdomen 

 very convex. The antennae are 9-jointed. 



The many peculiarities of Pseudadoretus show an evident 

 specialisation for existence in desert country. Prom the almost 

 complete loss of the hairy clothing and the dilated hind tibiae it 

 may be assumed that it has acquired unusual burrowing powers. 

 As characterised by Reitter, Pseudadoretus is a composite genus, 

 not sufficiently distinguished from Adoretus. 



315. Pseudadoretus dilutellus. 



Pseudadoretus dilutellus, Sem., Horse Soc. Ent. Ross, xxiv, 1890, 

 p. 203. 



Very pale semitransparent testaceous yellow, with the eyes and 

 mouth-parts alone dark, the body smooth and shining, the head 

 and pronotum clothed with minute and inconspicuous erect setae. 



It is moderately short and convex in shape. The clypeus is 

 prominent, not broad, evenly rounded, and densely and rugosely 

 punctured, the forehead rather more coarsely. The pronotuin is 

 feebly punctured in the middle and rather more strongly towards 

 the sides, longest in the middle, becoming very short at the sides, 

 which are strongly rounded, with the front angles right angles 

 and the hind angles quite obsolete. The elytra are a little wider 

 at the shoulders than the pronotum and gently dilate to beyond 

 the middle ; they are minutely, irregularly and not closely punc- 

 tured, the double rows representing the primary costae being 

 scarcely traceable. 



cf . The pygidium is vertical, smooth and shining, with a tuft 

 of erect hairs at the middle of the base. 



9 . The pygidium is very short and almost entirely hidden by 

 the elytra. 



Length, 7-9 mm. ; breadth, 3*5-4*5 mm. 



BALUCHISTAN ; BOKHARA. 



Type in M. Semenov's collection. 



Genus ADORETUS. 



Adoretus, Cast., Hist. Nat. Ins. ii, 1840, p. 142 ; Burm., Handb. Ent. 



iv, 1, 1844, p. 467 ; Lacord., Gen. Col. iii, 1856, p. 381. 

 Lepadoretus, Reitt., Verb. Nat. Ver. Briinn, xli, 1903, p. 30. 

 Prionadoretus, Ohaus, Deutsche Ent. Zeits. 1914, p. 512. 

 Subg. Chcetadoretus, Ohaus, 1. c. p. 471. 



