207 



POLYPHRADES EMBLEMATICUS, n. Sp. 



Black, appendages dull red. Densely clothed with soft 

 scales, mostly muddy-brown on upper surface, and whitish 

 (usually with a faint bluish gloss) on under surface. With 

 dense and very stout but not conspicuous setae. 



Head wide. Eyes briefly ovate, rather coarsely faceted. 

 Rostrum shorter than its width at base, sides decreasing in 

 width from base to apex, apical plate small but with rather 

 coarse punctures; inter-antennary space narrow, incurved, 

 depressed, and apparently not carinated along middle. An- 

 tennae stout; scape rather long, strongly curved, passing the 

 eye ; first joint of funicle not much longer than wide, dis- 

 tinctly longer than second, all the others transverse ; club 

 rather briefly ovate. Prothorax rather lightly transverse, 

 sides strongly but not quite regularly rounded, base distinctly 

 wider than apex, and both somewhat rounded. Elytra wider 

 than usual, ovate-cordate, base conjointly rather strongly 

 arcuate, distinctly wider than prothorax in both sexes, but 

 especially in female. Front tihicE comparatively short and 

 stout, rather strongly denticulate. Length, 4J-5J mm. 



Hah. — North- Western Australia (Macleay Museum). 



In shape somewhat like exoletus, but setae very different, 

 the scape shorter, stouter, and more noticeably curved, the 

 space between scrobes narrower, etc. The setae are stouter 

 even than in sefosus, and are more depressed. The pro- 

 thoracic punctures, however, readily distinguish it from all 

 other species known to me. 



The colour of the derm appears to be usually black or 

 blackish, but in some specimens is of a dingy reddish-brown. 

 The head has a very vague median line; on the prothorax 

 two very faint discal lines can sometimes be traced, and on 

 the elytra there are usually small irregularly distributed 

 pale spots. The setae (which are unusually stout) are (contrary 

 to the normal fashion) more noticeable on the prothorax than 

 on the elytra, and on the posterior declivity of the latter they 

 are no more conspicuous than elsewhere. 



On abrasion the head is seen to be closely covered with 

 irregular longitudinal ridges, some of which are continued 

 on to the rostrum. On the prothorax there are no granules, 

 but the punctures are remarkable ; they are of two kinds, 

 large ones impressed each in the form of a crescent, the 

 convex side of each directed towards a median line which has 

 simple punctures only; between the arms of each crescent 

 there is usually one small puncture; the rest of the surface 

 has rather dense small punctures. On the elytra the punc- 

 tures in the striae are rather large, and the interstices are 



