408 Mr. D. Sharp on the Elateridge of New Zealand. 



pubescens ; thorace crebre punctato ; elytris sat profunde striatis ; 

 antennis articulis secundo et tertio baud abbreviatis; corpore 

 subtus rufo-testaceo, concolori. Long. 5 m. m. 



This is very similar to Betarmon frontalis, and may per- 

 haps be only an extreme form of it, for that species is evi- 

 dently very variable ; but the bright colour of the two indivi- 

 duals before me seems to distinguish it pretty distinctly. 



Tairua (Captain Broun). 



14. Betarmon ohscurus, n. sp. 



B. fusco-testaceus, antennis fuscis, basi testacea, pedibus pallidis, 

 abdomine nigricante ; opacus, evidenter pubescens ; protborace 

 dense subtiliter punctato denseque pubescente ; elytris profunde 

 striatis ; antennis articulis secundo et tertio vix abbreviatis. 

 Long. 4|-5| m. m. 



This species varies somewhat in colour ; the thorax is gene- 

 rally darker than the elytra, the breast is reddish, and the 

 ventral segments nearly black except at the base and extre- 

 mity : though very similar to Betar7non frontalis, it may 

 always be distinguished by its finely, densely, and evenly 

 punctured thorax. 



" On various shrubs at Tairua ; active ; not uncommon." — 

 Captain Broun. 



Group 4. — Species 11, 12, 13, and 14 show the following 

 characters : — 



Antennae slender, subfiliform, 2nd and 3rd joints moderately 

 or well developed. Forehead rounded in front, and limited 

 by a raised carina, which is distinct throughout its whole 

 width ; clypeus inflexed-perpendicular, short and overhung by 

 the forehead, antennal spaces not marked. Prosternal sutures 

 simple ; prosternal process horizontal. Mesosternal cavity 

 oblique-perpendicular, its sides not in the least raised. Me- 

 tasternum elongate. Tarsi slender, with their joints simple ; 

 4th joint small, but not minute. In Betarmon gracilipes 

 the coxal plates are short throughout their whole breadth, 

 the trochanteral portion being not twice as long as the very 

 short femoral portion ; in the other three species the tro- 

 chanteral portion is broader, and the femoral nearly completely 

 absent. 



I think there is no doubt about the affinity of these species, 

 their nearest recorded ally being apparently the European 

 Betarmon, from which they differ only in some details of 

 structure. 



