49 



l)ut its beautiful tints are so evanescent tliat a few days after 

 death scarcely a trace of them remains, being merged into a 

 uniform dull yellow or red. By this disappearance it is proved 

 that the glowing colours are not due to any pigment, as in most 

 insects, but the action of light upon its internal living tissues. 

 These tissues shrink when losing their moisture after death, 

 and thereby also lose the property of exhibiting the glowing 

 metallic tints mentioned ; consequently no museum specimen 

 can reveal the fact to a distant entomologist. 



The beetle belongs to the genus Paropsis, so numerously 

 represented in Australia. The sexes differ slightly in size, the 

 female being about five-sixteenths of an inch in length, and the 

 male a quarter of an inch. All the outer integuments are smooth, 

 excepting microscopical grooves and dots upon pro-thorax 

 and elytra. The outline of form is that usual to the genus, a 

 somewhat broad oval, slightly compressed. The head and 

 prothorax are light green ; the eyes, exterior edges of the 

 maxillae (with large triangular terminal lobe), mandibles, and 

 the edges of the four last joints of the antennae are black or 

 dark brown, the remainder of the mouth parts and antennae are 

 light yellow. The margin of the elytra is yellowish green, and 

 finely pitted ; this is succeeded by a narrow band of dull purple, 

 followed by another of green with metallic lustre ; the outer 

 edge of the latter is smooth, the inner shows three serrations, 

 rendering it unequal in width at different parts, and is again — 

 but irregularly — bordered by dull purple. jSTear the narrow 

 purple median line two longitudinally extended spots of some« 

 what irregular form occur on each side, resembling burnished 

 gold in colour and lustre, the anterior one preceded by a small 

 bright crimson dot in the angle between the commencement of 

 the green band and the metallic golden spot ; the posterior 

 one being succeeded by a rather larger one of the same bright 

 crimson ; the remaining space is filled in by a dark dull blood- 

 red colour. The underside of the whole body is yellowish, 

 green, and the legs pale greenish yellow. 



Explanation^ or Plate IIIa. 

 Fig. 1. New hemipterous insect, as seen from above, enlarged- 

 twelve times. 



Pig. 2. Anterior part of same, showing the proboscis partly re- 

 moved from the sheath ; the large coxa?, and quadrangular 

 form of the anterior part of the body. 



Pig. 3. Paropsis spec. nov„ enlarged six times. 



