52 Mr. W. W. Saunders's Characters 



angles rounded ; anteriorly emarginate, with a broad straight 

 elevation in the eniargination, extending from the base of one man- 

 dible to the other — the sides slightly curving outwards, and the 

 eyes half-crossed horizontally by a thin sharply-edged plate ; 

 flattened above, opaque, and very finely granulated. Mandibles 

 rather longer than the head, incurved, rather slender, sharp pointed, 

 and having one broad tooth projecting inwards from the upper 

 margin near the base. Thorax subquadrate, transverse, broader 

 than the head ; the posterior angles rounded, and sligiitly so the 

 anterior ; regularly convex above, shining, very finely granulated. 

 Scutellum transverse, minute, semiovate, pointed. Elytra not 

 quite so broad as the thorax, semiovate, elongate, shoulders pro- 

 minent ; very shining, nearly smooth, minutely punctured. Legs 

 moderate, the anterior tibife somewhat flattened, and broader at 

 the apex ; punctato-striate above, having at the apex two teeth, 

 and along the outer edge a row of 8 to 10 teeth like serratures ; 

 middle tibiae subcylindrical, with one small, central, pointed tooth 

 on the margin ; posterior tibiae subcylindrical, without teeth. 

 Tarsi moderate. Underside of body shining. 



Length l-j?^ inch. 



The D. cognatus of Hope bears a close relationship to this spe- 

 cies, but differs in the larger size and shape of the mandibles. 



Sp. 10. Dorcus obscurus, W. W. S. (Plate IV. fig. 7.) 



Black, opaque. $ Head subsemicircular ; slightly emarginate 

 in front, with a shallow protuberance in the centre of the eniargi- 

 nation, the eyes crossed horizontally with a sharp flat ridge, 

 which there causes a prominence ; convex above, rugoso-punctate, 

 with two broad, obscure, slight elevations on the centre of the 

 vertex, which are smooth. Mandibles short, blunt, nearly straight, 

 with a broad blunt tooth on the inner edge, and a slight rounded 

 elevation on the upper side, near the base. Antennae moderate. 

 Thorax broader than the head, subquadrate, transverse ; the an- 

 terior angles prominent, the sides slightly curving outwards ; the 

 posterior margin straight, with the angles rounded ; convex above, 

 nearly smooth, except near the sides, which are punctate. Scu- 

 tellum small, semiovate. Elytra of the same breadth as thorax, 

 and about twice as long, rounded at the apex, the sides nearly 

 parallel, the shoulders rather prominent, and the sides slightly 

 reflexed ; regularly convex above, the surface punctate and 

 obscurely striate, each elytron with 9 longitudinal striae running 

 in equidistant and close pairs, except the stria near the suture. 

 Legs moderate ; the anterior tibiae somewhat flattened, without 



