5>4 [April, 



sonio of thoso named bv C. O. \Vaterlious;e in 18S0. Prof. Poulton has 

 lent nie the specimens captured hy A. R. Wallace in Borneo, Batchian, 

 Flores, and Ceram, belonging to the Oxford Museum, and Mr. H. E. 

 Andrewes the short series from India named by Bourgeois in 1896. 



In dealing with the Central American Dascillids, in 1897, the present 

 writer called attention to the peculiar foveae or excavations near the apex 

 of tlie elytra in the females only of certain species of Scirtes and CypJwn, 

 a character now known to occur in various members of the genus Ora, 

 this structure being almost homologous with that of the males of many 

 Malachiids. The females of these insects seem to be more abundant than 

 the males, and as the ovipositor (with its apical articulated palps) is often 

 extruded in dried specimens, there can be no mistake as to the sex of the 

 foveate examples. No male Ora or Scirtes has been detected by me with 

 any sexual modification of the elytral surface. 



The genus Scirtes is almost cosmopolitan in distribution, and pro- 

 bably 1000 species exist ; the 100 enumerated in Pic's Catalogue (1914), 

 to judge from the material before me, and the number of '' uniques " 

 (many of which are too imperfect for study), cannot represent more than 

 a fraction of those actually livdng at the present time. So far as my 

 own experience goes, they frequent marshy places, living upon Salia:, etc. 

 Their active jumping powers must often enable them to escape the 

 ordinary collector, with whom the}^ are not favourites, owing to their 

 fragility. The resemblance of manj^ of these insects to Coccinellids, 

 Halticids, and even Cassididae, is well illustrated by the material now 

 under examination. 



Pktoxoscirtes Champ. 



1. — Vrionoscirtes reliquus, n. sp. 



Subhemisplierical, convex, shining, closely pubescent; rufo-testaceous, the 

 eyes and elytra (the apical margin excepted) black, the antennae and legs testa- 

 ceous ; the head rather sparsely, minutely, the prothorax and elytra more closely, 

 finely punctate. Head very broad, the eyes convex ; antennae thickly set with 

 tine bristly hairs, long, very slender (the greatly dilated basal joint excepted), 

 joint 3 about as long as 2, those from joint 4 onwards elongate, equal in 

 length, parallel-sided, narrow at their base. Prothorax very broad and short, 

 narrowed from the base, slightly hollowed in front opposite the eyes. Eht)a 

 transversely convex, rounded and narrowly margined at the sides. Posterior 

 femora moderately incrassate, the tibiae almost straight, not much widened, 

 carinate, the spurs slender, the longer one barely one-half the length of the 

 iirst tarsal joint. 



Length (excl. head) 3, breadth 2-i^o ^'^- ( 2 ?) 

 Kal. Pe^'axg {G. E, Bryant-, x.1913;. 



