CHYPTOCEPHALID^E. 355 



the second antennal joint, being of a metallic black), by its somewhat 

 narrower tibiae, and by the short silvery pile of its elytra being rather 

 more evidently arranged in longitudinal rows*. 



Fam. 60. CEYPTOCEPHALID^. 



Genus 301. CRYPTOCEPHALUS. 

 Geoffroy, Hist. Abr. des Ins. de Paris, i. 232 (1762). 



976. Cryptocephalus crenatus. 



Cryptocephalus crenatus, WolL, Ins. Mad. 456 (1854). 

 , Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 135 (1857). 



Habitat Maderenses (Mad.), hinc inde in graminosis herbidisque in- 

 termediis. 



Detected hitherto only in Madeira proper, where it occurs spa- 

 ringly (in grassy places, and amongst dense herbage) at intermediate 

 altitudes. 



977. Cryptocephalus nitidicollis. 



Cryptocephalus nitidicollis, Wott., Cat. Can. Col. 397 (1864). 



Habitat Canarienses (ins. omnes), late sed parce diffusus. Ab ora 

 maritima usque ad 9000' s. m., ascendit. 



* The " Colaspis barbara, Fab." ( = Colaphus ater, Oliv., of the more modern 

 and correct catalogues), is admitted by M. Brulle into the meagre list of Canarian 

 Coleoptera which he compiled from the material of MM. Webb and Berthelot ; 

 and I think therefore that it should at all events be noted in the present place 

 which is its proper one in a natural system. Although there is no reason (since 

 it is an insect of Mediterranean latitudes) why it should not occur at the Canaries 

 beyond the fact of its not having been brought to light amongst the enormous 

 mass of specimens which have been collected (by myself, Mr. Gray, the Messrs. 

 Crotch, and other naturalists) during the last few years in that archipelago I 

 nevertheless cannot admit it into the fauna without some kind of evidence beyond 

 that which is supplied by M. Brulle having merely inserted it (unaccompanied by a 

 word of information) into a short list which is only remarkable for its unparalleled 

 inaccuracy and its total silence on every single point of local or scientific interest. 

 And this course seems to be the more necessary on account of several other species 

 (such as the Erodus europceus, the Akis acuminata, the Cicindela nilotica, &c.), 

 on which I have already had occasion to comment, being in a similar predica- 

 ment, and with every appearance of being mere importations from the African 

 coast. Moreover a simple list affords us no possible guarantee that the indivi- 

 dual (on the strength of which we may suppose that he admitted the G. barbara 

 into the fauna) was ever correctly identified by M. Brulle ; whilst, judging from 

 the almost incredible proportion which are wrongly determined, amongst the 

 very few species which his catalogue contains, there is more than an average pro- 

 bability that the (so-called) "Colaspis barbara" which he there records was in 

 reality something entirely different. So that, until further evidence has been 

 obtained, it is impossible that I can safely regard the insect in question as a 

 Canarian one. 



2 A2 



