222 



ANOBIAD;E. 



feel entirely satisfied that it is' more than a modification of tne 

 crenatus ; particularly so, since some of the smaller examples have 

 their elytral striae appreciably deeper and subcrenate, and appear, 

 thus far at all events, to be intermediate between the two. The 

 distinctions however of these small and densely clothed Coleoptera 

 are often so difficult to catch, that it is far from improbable that 

 other characters which I have overlooked may eventually raise my 

 " var. (3. intermedia " into a separate species ; and therefore I would 

 not hastily employ it to throw doubt upon the specific validity of 

 two other forms which are not only well defined in their external 

 details, but likewise topographically*. 



Genus 201. XYLETINUS. 

 Latreille, Ittgne Anim. (ed, 2) iv. 483 (1829). 



In my Canarian Catalogue I distributed the Xyletini under two 

 Sections characterized by the size of their eyes, and the form 

 (simple or excavated) of the last joint of their maxillary palpi. 

 Although these divisions may very likely be exceedingly useful ones 

 in a general classification, the inspection of further Canarian mate- 

 rial has convinced me that at any rate in those islands they are 

 much less pronounced (and therefore less available) than I had 

 imagined ; for I believe that both the eye and the emargination of 

 the joint referred to are more or less expressed according to the sex. 

 Thus, for instance, whilst the X. latitans has undoubtedly larger 



* When denuded of their pubescence, the sculpture of the S. crenatus and 

 hirtulus (as typically defined) is quite dissimilar ; for not only are the minute 

 punctules with which the surfaces of both of them are densely crowded percep- 

 tibly coarser in the former, but there is also no appearance in that species of the 

 additional (though likewise minute and very shallow) punctures which are more 

 or less evident on the elytra of the hirtulus when viewed beneath the microscope. 

 Then, in the crenatus the additional punctures of the prothorax are not only 

 coarser but extend (although shallower in that part) even over the posterior 

 region ; whereas in the hirtulus they are quite obsolete on the hinder disk. And, 

 lastly, as stated in my diagnosis, the crenatus (which is, on the average, a smaller 

 insect) has its pubescence shorter and more depresssed, and its striaa deep and 

 conspicuously crenated (instead of being fine, lightly impressed, and almost 

 simple). Still, as mentioned above, the smaller examples of the hirtulus (at any 

 rate in Gomera, if not also in Hierro) have their striae deeper and appreciably 

 crenated, and their entire sculpture rather more in accordance with that of the 

 Teneriffan crenatus ; so that it is possible, after all, that the crenatus and hirtulus 

 may be but extreme phases of a single species. Nevertheless I think it is far 

 more likely that I have overlooked some additional character which would tend 

 to raise my "var. j3. intermedia" to the rank of a separate (Gomeran) species. 

 However as I have failed to draw a satisfactory line of demarcation between this 

 smaller form and the hirtulus proper, I think it safer to record it as a variety, 

 and to leave it to future inquiry as to whether (or not) any other distinctive 

 features have escaped me. 



