On neiv Species o/" Hlsteridse. 203 



The Colour is a dull purplish madder, paler above than 

 below; the papillae are a deep black, with a white centre, 

 usually situated towards the anterior margin. The buccal 

 membrane, both sides of the umbrella, and the inner surfaces 

 of the arms, so far as this extends, are a deep purple. 



The Gladius has not yet been extracted from the solitary 

 individual. 



Hab. South Atlantic (Station 333), 2025 fathoms. One 

 specimen, sex ? 



XXI. — New Species o/'Histeridse, with Synonymical Notes. 

 By Geoege Lewis. 



The present paper is supplementary to one in this magazine 

 of last June, and treats of thirty-two species, twenty-four of 

 which are now described as new. 



Two of the species are Onthophili, making the total number 

 of described species in the genus nineteen ; and as there is no 

 reason for believing this genus to be less circumscribed in its 

 distribution than Platysoma or Paromalus, although its mem- 

 bers are much more difficult to capture, the genus will without 

 doubt ultimately prove to be a large one. 



The genus Ontliophilus is a very interesting one, as the chitin 

 of the exoskeleton is exceedingly opaque and evidently less 

 pure than in the other genera of Histeridae ; and although some 

 of the species, such as sulcatus, are beautifully engraved above, 

 the substructure is, as it were, roughly hewn, and the meso- 

 and metasternal plates, as well as the abdominal segments, are 

 coarsely wrought at the sutures. When the chitin of Coleo- 

 ptera has the appearance of opacity and impurity, we often 

 see it accompanied with elaborate sculpture ; and this is, in 

 fact, so general that it is impossible to avoid the conclusion 

 that the composition of the chitin is in some way the cause of 

 the costaa and punctures which constitute the sculpture. 

 Sculpture and opaqueness are most obvious in those Curculio- 

 nidse and Tenebrionidee which inhabit sandy places or the 

 plains of extensive deserts ; but they are by no means con- 

 fined to members of these families, for they exist in a marked 

 degree in many other insects which share their habitat. 



Amongst the Histeridse there is one very remarkable species, 

 Hister costatus, from Mexico, which has the opaque exoskele- 

 ton and the sculpture of Onthophilus, and it is the more worthy 

 of notice because three hundred species of the genus Hister 

 have purer chitin and a much less highly wrought sculpture. 



