On new Sciurus, RhipiJomjs, tkc. from Venezuela. o3 



the species ; but", as no attention lias been paid to the sexual 

 characteristics in the species hitherto described and fe»v 

 species have been recognized, it may be more g^eneral than 

 appears. I have found it only in Gherostus Walker i^ cor- 

 nutusy and Jamai'censis. The importance of the tibial prolon- 

 gations is also at present uncertain. Lacordaire's second 

 species, Eutomus viadagascariensis, is said to bear these on 

 the middle legs only, for which reason he regarded it as 

 forming a distinct section of his genus. This may necessitate 

 the formation of a third genus if the feature is found to have 

 the importance attached to it by him. 



The description of the larva of Rhipidandrus fungicola by 

 Friedenreich is interesting, in view of the extremely divergent 

 views which have been held as to the proper location of the 

 group. The body is bent like that of most Lamellicornia, 

 but there are only nine abdominal segments, which are not 

 larger than the thoracic, and the terminal one ends in a pair 

 of pointed processes. There are five ocelli on each side of 

 the head, and the labial palpi are said to be three-jointed. 

 All these characteristics exclude the insect from the ranks of 

 the Lamellicorn Coleoptera and conclusively point to its 

 relationship to the lignivorous Malacodermata. This addi- 

 tional light is of value in settling the question as to the 

 true systematic position of an enigmatical type of insect 

 which has been referred to no less than four of the suborders 

 of Coleoptera. 



I'he " Heptaphyllini" being eliminated, it remains true 

 for the Lamellicornia that a primitive five-jointed tarsus is 

 the most invariable of their characteristics, probably the 

 only exception being a very few obviously degenerate forms 

 such as iStenosternus and FhycochuSj which are among the 

 most abnormal of all Coleoptera. 



VI. — New Sciurus, Rhipidomys, Sylvilagus, and Calurorays 

 from Venezuela. By Oldfield ThoMAS. 



Sciurus Jianimifer, sp. n. 



A very large species allied to S. igniventris. Belly white. 

 Tail ochraceous. General colour of body above of the same 

 speckled or grizzled yellowish as in S. igniventris. Head 

 and ears rufous. Chin pale rufous. Rest of underside and 

 inner sides of limbs pure sharply defined white, edged on each 

 side with a narrow line of orange-rufous. Outer side of 

 limbs rich rufous, becoming orange-rufous on the digits. 



Ann. dt- Mag. N. Hist. Ser, 7. Vol. xiv. 3 



