the African Spccvs o/Hedjljius. 475 



rugosely punctured, brilliantly metallic cupreo-violaeeous, 

 tinted with green or blue ; the abdomen is metallic ; the 

 intermediate and posterior legs are partly infuscate in both 

 sexes. Gorham's measurements must liave included the 

 projecting tip of the abdomen. The $ of the present insect 

 is very like that of F/n/hedonus coriaceus (Er.), one of the 

 specimens from Willowmore having been mounted with a ^ 

 of the latter on the same sta^e. 



25. Hedyhius plagiocephalus. 

 Hedybiiis idagiocephalus, Er. Entomographien, p. 93 (c? § ) (1840) ^ 



(J . AntenuEe very long, rather slender, slightly tapering 

 outwards, testaceous, joints 3-10 more or less angulate at 

 their inner apical angle, joints 3 and 4 subtriangular, 

 subequal in length, each with a small shining black area 

 at the apex beneath, 5-11 elongate, 11 black at the tip ; 

 head (PI. XIV, fig. 24) testaceous, black at the base and in 

 the centre of the deep pubescent inter-ocular cavity, whicli is 

 shaped as in H. amoenus, and bordered laterally by an 

 angular, erect prominence preceded by a tuft of hairs ; 

 prothorax testaceous, with a large black, posteriorly-bifur- 

 cate discoidal patch, which is sometimes greatly extended 

 outwards ; elytra and raetasternum blue or bluish-green ; 

 legs and abdomen testaceous, the posterior tarsi infuscate ; 

 anterior tarsi as in H. amocmis. 



? . Antennse short, more slender, the outer joints some- 

 times infuscate ; pygidium black. 



Hab. S. Africa {Mus. Brit. : S)-, Cape of Good Hope ^ 

 [c? ?], Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage [?] [Mus. Oxon.), 

 Howick, Natal [ (^ ] and Caffraria [ ? ] {Mus. Brit.), Algoa 

 Bay [d" ? ] and Transkei [ c?] {Mies. Cape Toi^w) , Graharas- 

 toAvu {ex coll. Fry and Mus. Durban : ^). 



The nine males seen agree with Erichson's description in 

 having long, testaceous antenuse iu the ^ , the small black 

 marks beneath joints 3 and 4 being almost invisible from 

 above. The $ seems to be separable from that of H. amoenus 

 by the non-raaculate antenna?. The ^ cephalic cavity wants 

 the hook-like prominence in the centre in front visible in the 

 allied H. dentatithorax, Pic, the $ of the latter, moreover, 

 having the pygidium testaceous in the two sexes. Tlie pair 

 from Algoa Bay, communicated by Dr. Peringuey. has 

 enabled me — as was the case with H. bimaculatus, Er. — to 

 define with certainty the sexes of the present species. 



