Mr. J. Miers on the History of the ' Mate' Plant. 219 



b. Fore tibiae compressed, not dilated. 

 [To this section belongs the European A. cartas.] 



8. Acanthoderes maculatissimtts, n. sp. 



A. curtus, subdepressus, tomento ochraceo-fulvo vestitus : elytris 

 lituris nonnullis griseis, punctis innumerosis lineaque transversa 

 uudata pone medium brunneis. Long. 6 lin. c? $ . 



Head punctured, fulvous varied with brown. Antennae brown, 

 spotted and ringed with grey. Thorax with the lateral tubercles 

 produced and pointed at the apex, and vriih. two obtuse dorsal 

 elevations and a shining central line ; the interstices punctured ; 

 in colour minutely variegated with fulvous and brown. Elytra 

 subtrigonal, briefly sinuate-truncate at the apex, the external 

 angles produced ; punctured throughout, the centro-basal ridge 

 apparent only at the extreme base, ochrey fulvous, silky, studded 

 with small brown spots, which everywhere cover the punctures : 

 there are a few light-grey marks, and behind the middle a trans- 

 verse dark -brown zigzag line. Body beneath ashy brown. Legs 

 variegated with ashy, dusky brown, and fulvous. The fringe of 

 the male fore tarsi is black. The prosternum is simple, the 

 mesosternum subvertical in front. 



At Santarem ; on hanging woody cUmbers in new plantations. 



9. Acanthoderes thoracicus, White. 

 Acanthoderes thoracicus. White, Cat. Long. Col. in Brit. Mus. ii. p. 359. 



To the description quoted above I will add that the third to 

 the sixth antennal joints are acutely produced at their apices 

 beneath, as in A. Egaensis and other species ; the body is de- 

 pressed; the elytra are subtrigonal, with the apices slightly 

 truncated, and have always an oblique dark-brown streak on the 

 disk; the centro-basal ridges are narrow, disappear about the 

 middle of the elytra, and leave a depressed space between them. 

 The prosternum is simply rounded behind, the mesosternum 

 vertically inclined in front. Long. 6-7^ lin. S $ . 



This is a common species, on branches of felled trees, in the 

 forest throughout the Amazon region. It is also found, I be- 

 lieve, at Cayenne. 



[To be continued.] 



XXIV.— On the History of the 'Mate' Plant, and the different 

 Species of Ilex employed in the Preparation of the ' Yerba de 

 Mate,' or Paraguay Tea. By John Miers, F.R.S., F.L.S.&c. 

 Notwithstanding the seemingly authoritative evidence we have 

 on record concerning it, I have entertained a doubt for many 

 years past in regard to the plant which produces the celebrated 



