OF NEW ZEALAND. 261 



labrum usually distinct. Clypeus generally separated from the forehead 

 by a distinct suture. Antenna with nine, rarely with seven, eight, or ten 

 joints ; their club composed of three or seven joints. Tarsal claws 

 variable. The three last pairs of abdominal spiracles slightly divergent. 



Stethaspis. 



Hope; Lacord. Hist, des Ins. Coleop., Tom. iii.,/. 222. 



Mentum plane, elongate -quadrate, its ligular part a little narrowed, 

 with its anterior margin slightly and angularly hollowed. Jaws very 

 robust, terminated by six strong obtuse teeth. Last joint of all the 

 palpi very much larger than any of the preceding ones, sub-cylindrical, 

 a little arched, and rounded at the end. Labrum short, horizontal, 

 widely rounded, and rather strongly hollowed in the middle in front 

 Clypeus broad, separated from the forehead by a fine transversal groove, 

 short, rounded, rather strongly margined, especially in front. Eyes 

 thick. AntenncB nine-jointed, first club-like, inflated at the end, joints 

 two to four obconical, sub-equal, fifth and sixth very short, the three last 

 forming a very elongated and linear club among the males, ovate-oblong 

 among the females. Prothorax transversal, straight at the sides behind, 

 rounded and narrowed in front, and rather strongly lobed at its base. 

 Elytra oblong, finely furrowed. Legs moderate, anterior tibia biden- 

 tate in the male, tridentate in the female, the four posterior slender, 

 rounded, bicarinate and spinose ; tarsi longer than the tibise, slender, 

 their claws strongly arcuated, widened at their base. Pygidium very 

 strongly transversal, curvilinearly triangular. Sternal process strong, 

 projecting, conical, and obtuse at the end. 



460. S. SUturaliS, Hope ; Col. Man., i., 104. The clypeus is 

 rugosely, the other parts of the head regularly punctured. The pro- 

 thorax is punctate, the punctures rather shallow and distant, and it is 

 finely margined. The elytra are not very distinctly striated, in some 

 examples more deeply grooved than in others, with small oblong some- 

 times dark punctures. 



The insect is of a moderately shining pale green colour, with the 

 thoracic margins and elytral suture yellowish ; the under-side is greenish 

 testaceous, finely punctured, and more or less pilose, the pubescence of 

 the abdomen being much finer than that of the breast ; the femora and 

 tarsi are testaceous, the tibia green and rather metallic, and the 

 antenna fusco-testaceous. 



I have a mutilated specimen, which was brought by Mr. T. F. 

 Cheeseman from Nelson, of a more shining green, quite green below, 

 and with the mesosternum rather more densely punctured, the elytra 

 are almost smooth and obsoletely punctured ; but as the insect is muti- 

 lated and abraded, it is better to regard it as a variety of the typical 

 form, at all events for the present. 



Length, 9 lines. 



The above description agrees with examples in my own collection. 



