204 Mr. T. V. Wollaston on certain Coleoptera 



subevanescent), its antennae are considerably paler, the outer 

 angle of its anterior tibise is less developed, and its entire surface 

 (beneath the microscope) is less coarsely alutaceous. I make no 

 apology for not adopting Dejean's specific name^ — first, because 

 he never characterized the insect, and secondly, because it is not 

 " ovate ^' (but strictly oval) ; and I have therefore much pleasure 

 in dedicating it to my excellent friend John Gray, Esq., by whom, 

 in conjunction with the Rev. Hamlet Clark, it was captured at 

 St. Vincent in December 1856. It has also been taken, sub- 

 sequently, in the same locality, by Mr. Fry ; and I have speci- 

 mens likewise now before me which were found bv my nephew, 

 Mr. F. W. Hutton, on the 11th of June, 1857. 



Genus Opatrum. 



Fabricius, Syst. Ent. 7Q (1775). 



24. Opatrum fascum, Hbst. 



Opatrum fuscum, Hbst., Kiif. v. 225, tab. 52. f. 1 (1793). 



tomentosum, Dej., Cat. (cd. 3) 214 (1837). 



— — septentrionale, Falderrn., in litt. 



fuscum, Woll., Ins. Mad. 500, tab. 11. f. 1 (1854). 



The 0. fuscum was captured at St. Vincent by Mr. Gray and 

 the Rev. Hamlet Clark in December 1856, and on two subse- 

 quent occasions, in the months of June and October, by Mr. Fry. 

 It is a universal insect throughout these Atlantic groups. I 

 have taken it in four (out of the five) Madeiran islands, and in 

 the whole seven of the Canaries ; and it is recorded by M. Morelet 

 at the Azores. 



25. Opatrum pati-ueWi, Erichs. 



Opatrum patruele, (Dej.) Ericlis.? in Wiegm. Arcliiv, ix. 248 (1843). 



It is with doubt that I assign this insect to the 0. patruele of 

 Erichson's memoir on the (supposed) Coleoptera of Angola. 

 Upon the whole, it agrees sufficiently well with his diagnosis to 

 render it desirable not to erect a new species in so obscure a 

 genus as the present one ; nevertheless it does not tally entirely 

 with his description. Unfortunately Erichson has omitted all 

 reference to what I believe to be the best (and by far the most 

 constant) character in these closely alHed Opatra, namely the 

 form and exact amount of development of the lateral portion of 

 the elypeus immediately in front of either eye. The present 

 insect is very nearly akin to one which 1 have taken abundantly 

 in Lanzarote and Fuerteventui'a (the two eastern islands of the 

 Canarian group), but has the angle of its elypeus a little more 

 obtuse, and its prothorax rather longer, a trifle more narrowed 

 behind, and with its posterior angles less recurved and some- 

 what more acute. Several specimens of it, including both sexes, 



