540 COLEOPTERA 



transversal, sub-cylindrical or a little depressed above, equal, truncated 

 or a little rounded in front, bisinuated at its base, with a sharp narrow 

 median lobe, strongly sinuated at each side. Scutellum concealed, 

 elongate, acute-triangular. Elytra elongated, cylindrical, declivous 

 behind and almost or entirely covering the pygidium, sometimes at- 

 tenuated and prolonged at their extremity. The anterior and posterior 

 legs sub-contiguous or contiguous, the coxae, of the second prolonged 

 inwardly, with a quadrangular plate ; the first joint of the hind tarsus 

 nearly always prismatic. Abdomen very much shorter than the meta- 

 sternum, and on the same plane with it, its three intermediate segments 

 arched at their extremity. Metasternum relatively much elongated; 

 mesosternal process short, triangular, or a little inclined. 



The females differ less from the males than in Crossotarsus ; they are 

 usually distinguishable at first sight by the form of and spines on the 

 posterior part of their elytra, and by the sculpture of their legs being 

 more pronounced. 



NOTE. These characters have been derived from the descriptions of 

 Crossotarsus and Platypus. 



956. P. douei, Reich.; Chapuis, Mon. de Platyp., 237, 1865. 

 Reddish-brown or fuscous ; under surface, as well as the antennae and 

 tarsi, rufo-testaceous. 



$ Forehead uneven, oblong-punctate, grooved down the middle, 

 laterally bicarinate ; prothorax almost punctate, with two large congeries 

 of dots ; elytra striate-punctate, interstices sub-convex, the first the 

 narrowest, third granulate at the base ; their posterior depression sub- 

 concave, vertical, granulate, densely pilose. 



? Forehead unequal, striate in the middle, almost strigose longitudi- 

 nally ; prothorax punctate, with two large congeries of punctures ; elytra 

 deeply sulcate, the grooves obsoletely punctate, interstices nearly flat, 

 the first the narrowest, posterior depression nearly flat, oblique, furnished 

 with two spines. 



The male has the forehead sub-depressed in the middle, elevated 

 towards the lateral margins, where on each side it presents two parallel 

 keels separated by a deep groove, one keel proceeds from the inner 

 margin of the eye, the other from within the first, more elevated and 

 longer ; surface irregularly finely punctate on its anterior part, strongly 

 rugosely punctate behind, with oblong punctures ; a median groove 

 down the middle. Scape linear, short. 



Prothorax oblong, with a narrow median groove, with a heart-shaped 

 space formed of very fine dense punctures, divided in the middle by 

 the dorsal line, the rest of the surface shining, with a few punctures that 

 are more crowded at the anterior margin, and sub-confluent at the 

 lateral indentation, which is deep and of the form of the segment of a 

 circle. Elytra striate-punctate, the striae rather closely punctured, the 

 interstices slightly convex, smooth, four or five fine punctures on the 

 base of the fifth, the first very narrow, scarcely a third of the breadth of 

 the others, the third granulate at the base ; terminal depression sub- 

 concave, almost vertical, not very wide, triangular, almost equilateral. 



The female has the forehead uneven, sub-depressed in front, with a 



