224 ON THE BEETLES OF THE GENUS CALLIGRAPHA.  [Feb. 4, 
17. BARBUS, sp. 
A very young specimen, 5 cm. long, from Lake Rudolf, cannot 
be specifically determined. 
18. Mormyrvs ZAMBANENS®, Ptrs. 
In a specimen from Geledi on the Webi Shebeli (19.1.95) the 
dorsal fin is a little more than half as long as the anal. D. 21. 
A. 41. 
3. Remarks on the System of Coloration and Punctuation in 
the Beetles of the Genus Calligrapha. By Martin 
Jacoby, F.E.S. 
[Received January 2, 1896.] 
The paper which I have the honour to lay before the Society 
gives a short account of a somewhat exceptional feature in the 
Coleoptera, which occurs amongst the Chrysomelide in the genus 
Calligrapha, but in no other families of Coleoptera to my know- 
ledge.. This genus has its metropolis in Central America, and is 
represented by numerous prettily marked species, all more or less 
closely allied. In these insects, the ground-colour of the elytra 
is always pale yellow, but often assumes a golden hue when the 
insect is alive: this yellow ground-colour is marked with metallic 
brown or blue, sometimes violet spots, and stripes, but in many 
species this colour (if it can be so called)is replaced by reddish-fulvous 
or brown, not of a metallic hue. The elytra of most Coleoptera 
are impressed with more or less deep punctures, either arranged 
in longitudinal rows or irregularly distributed, and even when the 
elytra are pubescent the punctures will be seen when the hairs 
are removed. In no other insects of this order do the punctures 
seem to be dependent on the coloration or pattern of the elytra, 
or vice versa, but both go their own way; but in the case of the 
genus Calligrapha the interesting observation may be made that 
nearly all stripes or spots, no matter how few or many or what may 
be their shape, are bounded or surrounded at their margins by a row 
of deep punctures, deeper than those of the ground-colour, beyond 
which the colour does not extend. This is very remarkable, since 
T know of no instance in which punctures assume a circle in other 
species, much less that circular and longitudinal rows of punctures 
are found in the same individual according to the design as is the 
case in Calligrapha. The question which strikes one now is, how 
could this coloration influence a deep punctuation or the latter the 
colouring of the insect: a few instances are found in which some 
of the spots or bands are free from punctures at their lower portion, 
but their outlines are just as well defined as those which have the 
punctures complete. According to Burmeister, the punctures of 
the elytra are formed by the interruption of the chitinous matter, 
causing small pits or punctures to be formed, but the regularity 
