OF NEW ZEALAND. 1331 



The male is larger than the female, and has the front and middle 

 tarsi broadly dilated ; the front ones bear each a single claw, which 

 is abruptly curved, and has a tooth at the extreme base ; the middle 

 tibia are a little curved ; and the hind femora have near the ex- 

 tremity a large angular dilatation, the apex of which is acute and 

 often a little hooked. Though the species is in most respects allied 

 to A. wakefieldi (No. 136), yet it differs by the prosternal process 

 being broader and much less compressed towards the extremity. 



Wellington and Dunedin. 



Group DYTISCID^l . 



Homoeodytes. 



Nov. gen. 

 (Sliarp ; Aquatic Coleop., p. 703.) 



Coxal lines absent ; unguicular cleft broad and rounded at base. 

 Prosternum indistinctly grooved ; postero-external angle of hind 

 femur acute or spinose. 



The individuals are of the usual Cybister form, with lateral 

 stripe on the elytra. The coxal lines are completely absent, and by 

 this character they depart from all the other Cybistrini ; the struc- 

 ture of the hind claws and their point of insertion are much the same 

 as in Spencerhydnis ; they differ therefore from Megadytes and 

 Cybister in this respect ; but the structures of the male tarsi and of 

 the laciniae of the metasternum agree with the two genera just men- 

 tioned. The male tarsi have sexual pubescence on the third joint, 

 but not on the two basal joints ; female with very dense, fine sexual 

 sculpture on the wing-cases. 



Three species are found in Australia and New Zealand. 



2338. H. SCUtellaris. (Sharp; Aquatic Coleop., p. 703.) 

 Ovalis, parum convexus, supra olivaceus, capite anterius protho- 

 raceque ad latera testaceis, elytris vitta marginali posterius parum 

 arguta testacea; subtus testaceus; pedibus posterioribus piceo-tes- 

 taceis, femoribus angulo posteriori-externo acute subspinoso ; pro- 

 sterno late obsoletissime sulcato. 



Long., 26mm. ; lat., 14mm. 



In the male the front tarsi are small, their claws nearly equal 

 and rather short, the palettes of the undersurface are small and 

 oblong, and the pubescent area moderately large ; on the inter- 

 mediate tarsi the basal joints are quite bare, but the third one bears 

 a broad patch of rather long, very dense hairs ; the claws are simple 

 and equal. The female has a dense but rudimentary and obsolete 

 sexual sculpture on the wing-case, consisting of excessively fine, 

 short, and dense, irregular or curved scratches ; these are most 

 distinct at the base, become obsolete before the apex, and also 

 towards the suture and lateral margin. 



The species varies somewhat in size, and in the colour of the 

 upper surface, which shows sometimes a distinct metallic reflection 



