206 Mr. T. Vernon Wollaston on the 



of the two ahove-mentioned characters would seem to necessitate 

 the retention o( Nitpus as a distinct genus. 



9. Nitpus gunosj^ermi, J. Duval. 

 N. capite prothoraceque nigro-piceis et squamis subflavescenti- 

 cinereis parce tectis, hoc subcylindrico (ad latera vix ro- 

 tundato) in medio tenuissime canaliculato ; elytris plus minus 

 clarioribus, rotundatis, sat profunde punctatis, fasciis duabus 

 parvis [sc. antemedia plerumque obsoleta et postraedia] plus 

 minus indistinctis oblique curvatis fractis subflavescenti- 

 cinereis ornatis ; antennis pedibusque robustis, clare rufo- 

 ferrugineis. 

 Long. corp. lin. f — 1. 



Nitpus gonospermi, Jacq. Duval, Glan. Ent. 138 (1860). 

 Habitat TeneriflTam, usque ad 2,000 s. m. ascendens, hinc inde 

 vulgaris. 



Apart from its generic characters (of antennae and hinder male- 

 feet), the N. gonospermi may be distinguished from the Sphcericus 

 simplex (to which at first sight it is closely allied) by being, on the 

 average, a trifle larger, and with its limbs usually of a clearer hue 

 and rather more robust. Its prothorax, also, is somewhat more 

 cylindric (being a trifle less rounded at the sides), and with a 

 minute narrow central channel ; its elytra are more strongly 

 punctured and globose, and with their very indistinct fasciae a 

 little more evident, arcuated, and oblique ; and its scales are alto- 

 gether less white, or with a yellower tinge. It is a common 

 insect throughout the lower and intermediate regions of TenerifTe; 

 but, although absolutely abundant in certain places, I have not 

 captured it in any of the other islands of the group : yet the 

 Sphcericus simplex, which has not been observed in TenerifFe, 

 supplies its place in Hierro. Whether it attaches itself to par- 

 ticular plants I am unable to say ; nevertheless I have certainly 

 beaten it in great profusion from off a yellow tansy in the waste 

 ground immediately above the Puerto of Orotava ; and I have 

 likewise brushed it out of the thick herbage in a small Barranco at 

 Souzal, as well as at Taganana, and elsewhere. It has also been 

 taken by the Rev. R. T. Lowe near Garachico. 



Genus Sph^ricus.* (PI. VIII. fig. G.) 

 Woll., Ins. Mad. 2QS, pl. v. f. 4, 5, 6 (1854). 

 Corpus, antennce, instrumenta cibaria (6 a, 6 b, 6 c, 6 d) et pedes 



* On what principle of common fairness M. Jacq. Duval cancels the narae 

 (even though I only registered it as of subgeneric importance) which I proposed 



