OF NEW ZEALAND. 1455 



Group-D ASC YLLID^E . 



Atopida (Gen., p. 311). 



2524. A. siimata, n.s. Subopaque, head and thorax red, elytra 

 castaneous ; the legs and five basal joints of the antennae testaceous, 

 the remaining joints infuscate ; pubescence inconspicuous, short, 

 yellowish. 



When placed side by side with A. lawsoni it will be seen that 

 the eyes are smaller, natter, and more widely separated above. 

 The third joint of the antenna is slightly, but distinctly, shorter 

 than the fourth. The carinate edge of the antennal fossa, from the 

 eye to the forehead, is less elevated. The thorax, at the base, near 

 each side, has a sinuosity, this causes the angle to appear as if it 

 were directed backwards ; the front angles are not so acutely pro- 

 minent ; the sculpture is finer, and the larger and more distant 

 granules on the sides and base of A. lawsoni are here almost entirely 

 wanting. The labrum is very short in the middle, and the mem- 

 braneous space behind it is also short. 



Length, 2J lines ; breadth, 1 line. 



Howick. One example. The terminal joint of the labial palpi 

 is placed nearly at right angles to the penultimate. The male of 

 A. lawsoni has a distinct notch at the apex of the last ventral 

 segment. 



Veronatus (Gen., p. aid). 



2525. V, nubilus, n.s. Elongate, moderately convex, subopaque, 

 fuscous, the head and thorax more rufescent ; legs and antennae 

 chestnut-red, labrum and mandibles red ; densely covered for the 

 most part with conspicuous yellow hairs. 



Head narrower than the thorax, densely and finely punctate. 

 Antenna elongate and slender, reaching the middle thighs ; third 

 joint nearly as long as the fourth. Thorax strongly transverse, its 

 sides rounded, anterior angles depressed but not much rounded, the 

 apex a little sinuate towards the sides, the base subrotundate, its 

 angles nearly rectangular ; it is indistinctly broadly impressed along 

 the middle, its punctuation is fine but close, at the base, between 

 the middle and the side, the sculpture is distinctly granular. Elytra 

 slightly uneven, each feebly tricostate, densely and finely punctured, 

 more or less evidently mottled; near each side there is a large 

 irregular space always darker in colour than the disc. 



Underside castaneo-rufous, finely and closely sculptured and 

 pubescent. 



This species may be distinguished from V. longipalpis by the 

 larger membraneous space between the labrum and the forehead, 

 the labrum is larger ; the third antennal joint differs from the de- 

 scription of V. longipalpis ; the thoracic sculpture is quite different, 

 that of the elytra is more distinct, with a tendency to appear 

 rugose, or minutely granulose, near the base. The process of the 



31 PTS. V., VI., VII. 



