On AUSTRALIAN COLEOPTERA. 



Bv ARTHUR M. LEA, F.E.S., Kmomoloi.ist, S.A. MubUM. 



PART III. 



Family CHRYSOMELIDAE. 



DITROPIDUS. 



In point of nuniljcrs this genus is second only to Paropsis in the Australian 

 Chrysomelidae. To enable the species here described to be more readily idenlitied 

 iJiey have been divided into groups, according to their clothing and colours. 



I'rothorax and Elvtka pubescent. 



DITROPIDUS GIBBICOLLIS sp. nov. 



d Coppery or coppery bronze, elytra usually slightly brighter than pro- 

 thorax; labruni and basal half of antennae obscurely reddish. Moderately clothed 

 with white pubescence, sparser on middle of pronotum than elsewhere. 



Head shagreened, and with fairly dense, partially concealed punctures ; with 

 a rather feeble median line. Eyes moderately separated. Prothorax scarcely 

 twice as wide as the median length, gibbous in front, vaguely depressed near 

 base, shagreened; with dense and rather small elongated punctures in middle, 

 becoming larger and more rounded on sides. Elytra subquadrate, with deep and 

 well defined striae on the sides, shallower but with distinct punctures elsewhere, 

 the interstices shagreened and finely punctate. Legs rather short ; front tibiae 

 rather thin. Length { d $ ), i-2 '25 mm. 



9 Differs in being rather more robust, club .somewhat smaller, legs slightly 

 shorter, and in the abdomen. 



Hab. South Australia: Mount Lofty (S. H. Curnow and A. H. Elston). 

 Type, I. 10956. 



The under surface sometimes has a bluish or greenish gloss; on some females 

 the elytra are almost of a brassy purple: on two (of the nine) specimens before 

 me there is a vivid blue sp(.it between the eyes. The distance between the eyes is 

 about the length of the basal joint of the antennae in the male, slightly more in the 

 female; from the sides the hind angles of the prothorax are seen to be slightly 

 obtuse. It is a compact species, and almost the smallest pubescent member of 



