738 COLEOPTERA 



Phlceophagosoma (P. 529). 



1310. P. rugipenne, n.s. Body nude, moderately convex, not 

 parallel, shining, pitchy-black ; legs and antennae piceo-rufous. 



Rostrum rather long and robust, not depressed at the base, parallel, 

 distinctly but not very closely punctulated. Head with a small vertical 

 fovea, its sculpture nearly similar to that of the beak ; eyes small but 

 prominent. Prothorax almost triangularly ovate, obsoletely compressed 

 laterally, constricted in front; moderately punctured, its dorsal line 

 smooth, the punctuation of the linear basal space very much finer and 

 closer, and, therefore, quite dull ; it is much longer than broad. Elytra 

 gradually narrowed posteriorly, crenate-punctate-striate, interstices slightly 

 convex, rugose, punctulated, but not closely. Legs long and stout. 

 AntenncG placed before the middle of the beak, stout ; the scape extending 

 beyond its apex ; funiculus- and club pubescent. Prosternum sparingly 

 punctulated ; metasternum canaliculate, with moderate shallow punctures ; 

 basal segment of the abdomen broadly impressed on the middle, second 

 much more finely and sparsely punctured than the preceding, the suture 

 between the two indistinct, the deep sutures of the others bordered by a 

 row of distinct punctures, the apical segment closely punctulated. 



Superficially, the members of this genus are strikingly homogeneous : 

 the present one departs from the type (New Zealand only), P. corvinum, 

 in having a more robust rostrum, a larger thorax, with a more inwardly 

 prolonged frontal constriction having a tendency to produce a transverse 

 depression, more deeply impressed elytral striae with their punctures 

 encroaching on the interstices, the elytra themselves being bi-arcuate 

 at their base, and the thorax usually with two more or less evident 

 impressions behind the middle. The abdominal depression will aid in 

 the identification of the species. 



Length, 2| lines ; breadth, quite \. 



I cut some specimens out of a log at Whangarei Heads. 



1311. P. abdominale, n.s. Shining, pitchy-black; legs and 

 antennae pitchy-red. 



Hostrum slightly arched, parallel, finely and not closely punctured. 

 Head rather finely and distantly punctured ; eyes sub-depressed, not at all 

 conspicuous. Prothorax triangularly ovate, constricted in front, moderately 

 punctured, with a smooth linear median space. Scutellum transversal. 

 Elytra gradually narrowed towards the apices, punctate-striate, interstices 

 distantly punctulated. Metasternum canaliculate, distantly punctured; 

 abdomen slightly convex, its basal segment finely and not very closely 

 punctured, the second almost obsoletely, the suture between the two 

 rather strongly angulated (broadly triangular) and very distinct. 



An isolated form : the head, owing to the flattened eyes, with an 

 almost uninterrupted lateral curve ; the thorax shorter and more rounded 

 at the sides than in P. rugipenne, and with more finely sculptured (not 

 rugose) elytra. The shape of the scutellum is uncommon. 



In P. thoradcum the under-surface is finely punctured, and the fine 

 suture between the two basal segments of the abdomen is just perceptibly 

 angulated in the middle. 



Length, 2\ lines; breadth, quite i. 



I found my unique specimen at Whangarei Heads. 



