OF NEW ZEALAND. 1179 



as long as the first ventral segment in the middle, the second ventral 

 segment is rather short. 



Although the insect does not much resemble Otiorhynchus in 

 appearance, yet it appears very closely allied thereto, the only 

 character, in fact, which distinguishes, so far as I see, the two with 

 certainty being the slightly cavernous corbeilles of ProtophormusT 



2089. P. gracilis, n.s. (Sharp; Trans. Boy. Dub. Soc., 1886, 

 p. 417.) Angus tior, fusco griseoque squamosus, plus minusve varie- 

 gatis, antennis runs ; thorace subcylindrico, medio vix dilatato, 

 longitudine vix latiore. 



mg., omm. 



Antenna elongate, second joint longer and stouter than the third, 

 eighth joint about as long as broad, club large, very elongate oval : 

 rostrum not grooved, the front of the eye placed about half the dis- 

 tance between the front of the thorax and the insertion of the 

 antennas : thorax much narrower than the elytra, only very slightly 

 broader in the middle, and minutely narrowed in front, the surface 

 densely squamose, not at all uneven or rugose ; scutelluni small : 

 elytra variable in the colour of their clothing, usually brown, mottled 

 with grey, but sometimes nearly concolorous, there remaining always 

 a more or less distinct pallid mark at each side near the hind femur ; 

 they bear striae of fine punctures and a few fine setae, and the fifth 

 interstice is a little raised or subnodulose in front of the apex : this 

 is acuminate ; the front tibiae are flexuose inwardly, and mucronate 

 at the apex. 



Grey mouth. Helms. Professor Hutton found a closely-allied 

 species in Otago, and sent me a good series of the sexes in 1879. 

 This is, I have no doubt, the insect described by Broun as Catoptes 

 cuspidatus [Tigones cuspidata, Man. N.Z. Col., April, 1886, p. 857. 

 T. B.] ; the female is well distinguished from P. gracilis by the pro- 

 duced apices of the elytra, and by the bare tubercle on the thorax ; 

 these characters, however, are not present in the male, and this sex 

 can only be distinguished from P. gracilis by the thorax being rather 

 less cylindric, and having the sides a little more dilated in the 

 middle. 



2090. P. binodulus, n.s. (Sharp ; Trans. Boy. Dub. Soc., 

 1886, p. 418.) Fusco- vel griseo-squamosus, vix variegatus, antennis 

 runs ; thorace subcylindrico antrorsum paululum angustato ; elytris 

 minus elongatis ante apicem binodulosis. 



Long., 6mm. 



Slightly, larger and more robust than P. gracilis, and readily 

 distinguished by the existence of a longitudinal nodule or elevation 

 on the third interstice, just at the commencement of the apical 

 declivity. The surface is densely covered with scales varying in 

 colour according to the example, but scarcely at all variegate ; the 

 prothorax is elongate, and its surface bears some very obsolete rugae ; 

 the elytra possess regular series of rather large punctures, and, in 

 addition to the nodule on the third interstice, there is a very slight 



