Coleoptera from New Zealand, 83 



Cm •up Silphidae. 

 SiLriiOTKLiis, gen. nov. 



Btxlif subitbloni;, rnok'rafoly convex, ne.irly glabrous. 

 Head couiparativt'ly large and broad, not at all trigonal. 

 Eyes large, rotun late, lateral, barely tree fro:n tlie thorax, 

 finely facftted ; their inner margin is nut well detincd; just 

 inside each eye there is a minutely seuipturetl .sw^'lling; this 

 i.s limited from the vertex by a di.stiuet depression, causing 

 these organs at first sight to appear very much larger than 

 they really are. Antennce 11-articulatc, almost filiform, 

 elongate, inserted close to the front of the eyes ; their two 

 basal joints cylindric, about equally stout, the second tlie 

 shorter; joints 3 to 8 slerider, gradually decreasing in length, 

 the third evidently longer than the following ones ; ninth and 

 tenth short, broader than the preceding ones ; eleventh nearly 

 twice the bulk of the tenth ; these three terminal joints do 

 not form a distinct club. Maxillary/ pnlpi moderately elon- 

 gate ; basal joint minute, second narrow at the base; third 

 oblong, quite as long as the second, and not broader than the 

 apex of that joint ; fourth rather longer than the preceding 

 one, quite half its width, almost aciculate. Thorax trans- 

 verse, with distinct lateral margins, base feebly bisinuate ; 

 apex of about the same width as the head, subtruncate, not 

 very obviously marked ort' from the head. Sculellam trian- 

 gular. Elytra ample, strarccly at all wider than the thorax 

 at the base, finely marginuted and but little curved at the 

 sides; apices nearly quite truncate, so that the pygidium is 

 usually exposed. Legs slender ; tibije simple, with fine setae 

 only. Tarsi narrow ; in the male the basal joint of the front 

 .and middle pair are a little dilated, but quite oblong; second 

 subquadrate ; third moderately small, its apex slightly emar- 

 ginate, not lobate ; fourth elongate ; posterior tarsi narrow and 

 elongate. 



Underside. — Mentuni broad and truncate at the base, nar- 

 rowed anteriorly. Fore part of the head like that of Cholev.i. 

 Prosternum nearly truncate in front. Anterior coxn- almost 

 contiguous; the middle pair rather widely separated, the hind 

 f)air nearly api)roximated, the trochanters large. The meso- 

 «/er/Ju//i has a rather broad process. Metasternuni large j in 

 front it is much rounded and finely margined; it extends 

 between the middle coxa', and there it is on nearly the same 

 plane as the mesosternal process. Epiplcune quite linear 

 behind. Abdomen on a lower level than the sternum, com- 

 posed of six segments, the ajjical narrow. 



6* 



