139 



Two specimens occurred to me in flood-refuse on the banks of 

 the River Torrens. 



ELATERID.E. 

 TETRALOBUS. 



T. Fortnumi, Hope. I liave lately received a male example 

 of this genus taken by Mr. Read near Lake Eyre, which seems 

 to be quite distinct from any species previously seen by me. It 

 is broad in proportion to its length (long,, 131.; lat., 41.), and 

 its prothorax, instead of being more or less canaliculate down 

 the middle, has a very faintly raised shining dorsal line. But 

 the character on which I rely for specific distinctness consists in 

 the structure of the antennas in the male, the branches of which 

 are much shorter than in any other Tetralohus I have seen, the 

 longest of them being no longer than the distance between the 

 antenna? at their base. The antennae, moreover, are very short 

 as a whole, reaching when laid back not further than to the 

 front of the basal quarter of the prothorax. The colour of the 

 insect is dark chestnut, the legs and antennae (except the basal 

 joint) being paler. The prothorax is (across tlie hind angles) 

 exactly as wide as it is long down the middle. The elytra are 

 very distinctly punctulate-striate, but the puncturation becomes 

 feebler, and the strif^e are obsolete near the apex. The interstices 

 are feebly convex in the front half, and are punctured more 

 sparingly than in any other Tetralohus that I have seen. The 

 prothorax has the usual fovea on either side of the middle line 

 near the front strongly marked. 



As there are several descriptions of species of Tetralohus \n\\\q\\ 

 scarcely mention more than generic characters it is very likely 

 that this insect has already received a name, and it appears to me 

 not at all unlikely to be T. Fortnumi^ Hope. The only difficulties 

 in so regarding it are that T. Fortnumi should be a somewhat 

 narroiver insect, and is said to have the longitudinal line of the 

 prothorax "parum impressa ;" whereas in the specimen before me 

 it is 'Miaud impressa." This latter character, however, is probably 

 variable (judging from other species of Tetralohus), and as it seems 

 that T. Fortnumi is quite incapable of certain identification, and 

 the measurements given by its author may be a trifle inexact, I 

 think it will be well to assign the name to this insect, at any rate 

 until some fresh evidence to the contrary may be forthcoming. 



T. Manglesi, Hope. There are before me specimens of an insect 

 belonging to my own collection and to those of the Adelaide Museum 

 and of the Adelaide University Museum, taken in various parts of 

 South Australia, which, I think, may be regarded as this species. 

 Like most of its congeners, the species varies greatly in size, the 

 smallest examples being long., 121., lat., 3^^ 1. ; the largest long., 

 171., lat., 5 1. It is accordingly one of the widest of the genus in 



