COLEOPTERA. 55 



HETEROMERA- 



BY FREDERICK BATES. 



Family TENEBRIONlDjE. 



Sub-Family TENTYRIIN^;. 

 Group GNATHOSIIDES. 



SYACHIS, n. g. 



Intermediate between Ascelosodis and Capnisa. At once to be separated from the former 

 by its having the outer apical angle of the anterior tibiae not dentiform, and from the latter 

 by its having the antennary orbits more convex and more rounded in front ; prothorax wider 

 and more deeply emarginate in front, the sides rounded and decidedly contracted behind ; 

 elytra shining black and more or less strongly punctured, the epipleurae being sometimes 

 muricately punctured ; prosternal process horizontal and pointed behind ^mesosternum decli- 

 vous and concave in front. 



The lateral teeth of the submentum are long and pointed : the mentum is strongly trans- 

 verse, almost flat, hexagonal, the apex triangulately notched in the middle, coarsely punctured : 

 the last joint of the labial palpi is robust, more or less semi-oval (broadly truncated at the 

 apex) : the outer lobe of the maxillce is furnished with a long, curved claw ; the last joint of 

 the palpi is elongate-oval and broadly obliquely truncated at apex (picicornis), or triangulate 

 with the apex a little oblique (himalaicus} : the mandibles are stout, notched at apex, and 

 are furnished on their upper edge, before the apex, with a stout horizontal tooth, which clasps 

 the sides of the labrum, and is sub-acute (himalaicus), or obtuse (picicornis) , and is always, 

 more strongly developed on the right mandible than the left : the head is short, robust, more 

 or less wrinkled above the eyes, almost obsoletely so in picicornis ; throat transversely im- 

 pressed : epistoma more or less prominent, more or less distinct from the antennary orbits, 

 rounded or truncated in front, and is, in himalaicus, hollowed out at the sides, leaving the 

 mandibles almost completely exposed : the antennae are short, slender, a little thickened apically, 

 joint 3 much longer than 2 or 4 : the prothorax is strongly transverse, convex, decidedly wider 

 in front than the head, sides more or less rounded, apex more or less deeply emarginate, base 

 more or less feebly sinuately rounded : elytra convex, more or less abruptly declivous behind, 

 wider at base than base of prothorax : epipleurse moderately broad, the fold expanding at the 

 base and reaching the humeral angle, narrowly, but very distinctly, attaining the apex : tibia 

 hispid, or spinulose, elongate-triangulate, the anterior most strongly so and finely denticulate 

 on the outer edge, the apex simple ; tarsi sparsely ciliate, with short spiniform hairs, the first 

 joint of the posterior as long as the last : intercoxal process moderate, a little contracted 

 anteriorly and broadly rounded at apex : prosternal process horizontal, a little produced and 

 pointed behind : mesosternum declivous and a little concave in front : episterna ofmetathorax 

 slightly curvedly contracted posteriorly. 



I have failed to discover any really distinctive sexual characters in this and cognate 

 genera of the old world ; there are differences of degree in the punctuation, &c., of the abdomen, 



H 2 



