278 CURCULIONID^E. 



ally) identified with it, or the highly-coloured (aberrant ?) ones from 

 Palma, be absolutely referable to the instabilis, the unsatisfactory 

 nature of the material which I have hitherto been able to inspect 

 compels me to leave somewhat in doubt ; so that, as in the case of 

 the acutus, I would not venture to record it positively for any island 

 except Teneriffe. At the same time I should state that I am almost 

 satisfied that it does occur both in Gomera and Palma, and probably 

 in Grand Canary likewise ; for I believe that the few specimens just 

 alluded to are merely the exponents of slightly modified races cha- 

 racteristic of those islands. 



Even in its typical phasis, however, the A. instabilis is very closely 

 allied to the acutus ; and it is possible indeed that it may ultimately 

 have to be regarded as only a small form of the latter; though 

 further material, and (above all) a knowledge of its habits, can alone 

 decide this point for certain. 



768. Acalles dispar. 



Acalles dispar, WolL, Ins. Mad. 337 (1854). 

 , Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 110 (1857). 



Habitat Maderenses (Mad.), in lauretis humidis haud infrequens. 



Peculiar to the sylvan districts of Madeira proper, but so much 

 resembling the acutus of Teneriffe that at first sight it might almost 

 be mistaken for that species. In spite of this general resemblance, 

 however, I do not believe that the A. dispar can be regarded as any 

 insular state of its Canarian ally*. 



769. Acalles coarctatus. 



Acalles coarctatus, WolL, Cat. Mad. Col. 108 (1857). 



Habitat Maderenses (Mad.\ rarissimus ; in herbidis intermediis 

 lectus. 



Peculiar to Madeira proper, and of great rarity the few speci- 

 mens which I have seen having been taken by myself in the Boa 

 Ventura and the Eibeiro de Sao Jorge, in the north of that island. 



* The A. dispar is, on the average, a little larger than the acutus ; its elytra 

 (which are rather more rounded at the sides, and are more conspicuously orna- 

 mented with a narrow, elongate, blackish sutural patch in front of the post-medial 

 fascia) will be seen, when denuded of their scales, to be very much more coarsely 

 sculptured (the punctures of the striae being perfectly enormous, and nearly 

 three times the size of those of that insect) ; and its rostrum and limbs are per- 

 ceptibly broader, or more robust. 



