1899.] PHYTOPHAGOtrs COLEOPl'EllA. OP AFEICA. 367 



Hemixantha, gen. n. 



Body elongate and parallel ; antennae filiform, the third joint 

 slightly longer than the second, but shorter than the fourth ; 

 thorax transverse without depressions, the sides rounded ; elytra 

 not narrower than the thorax, irregularly punctured and rugose, 

 their epipleurse broad anteriorly, indistinct below the middle ; legs 

 slender, the tibiae unarmed, the first tarsal joint of the posterior 

 legs as long as the following three joints together, claws appendi- 

 culate, the prosternum indistinct ; the anterior coxal cavities 

 closed. 



This genus will enter the group of Platyxanthince on account of 

 the unarmed tibife and closed coxal cavities, but it must be 

 separated from Platyocantlia on account of the differently shaped 

 and structured thorax ; the latter genus contains already far too 

 many species of different kind of structural characters than the 

 type, and wants revision. Metrioidea Fairm. has a subquadrate 

 thorax, narrower than the elytra, and the same is the case in 

 Platyxantha proper, in which the thorax is also more or less 

 depressed or sulcate and not transverse. In Hemixantha must 

 also be arranged the following species formerly placed by me in 

 Platyxantha : — //. ijallida Jac, H. scutellata Jac, which, although 

 not metallic in coloration, exhibit the same structural characters. 



Hemixantha natalensis, sp. n. (Plate XXI. fig. 8.) 



Bluish or greenish black below, above metallic green or blue, the 

 antennae and tarsi black ; thorax closely punctured and rugose ; 

 elytra as closely punctured and finely transversely wrinkled 

 throughout. 



Length 4 millim. 



Head finely punctured at the vertex, the frontal tubercles very 

 broad, subquadrate, and strongly raised ; clypeus in shape of a 

 transverse acute ridge ; labrum black ; antennae extending beyond 

 the middle of the elytra, slender, black, the lower three or four 

 Joints more or less fulvous below, the basal joint metalhc dark 

 green or bluish above ; thorax twice as broad as long, transversely 

 convex, the sides rather strongly rounded and widened at the 

 middle, the angles distinct, the surface very closely and distinctly 

 punctured, the interstices irregularly rugose or wrinkled ; scutellum 

 rather broader than long, impunctate ; elytra parallel, scarcely 

 narrower at the base than the thorax, the surface nearly similarly 

 sculptured to that of the thorax, but the interstices more finely 

 transversely wrinkled and minutely granulate ; underside black, 

 with a slight bluish or greenish gloss, the legs more distinctly of 

 the latter tint, finely pubescent. 



Bah. Frere, Natal (G^. Marshall). 



In the male insect the last abdominal segment is semicircularly 

 emarginate at the apex, and the protruding penis is slender and 

 pointed and slightly curved at the apex. 



