272 [December, 



their outer posterior half ; the antennae hlack, except at the base. One 

 of nine species of Scirfes obtained by Mr. Bryant on Mt, Matang, and 

 very different from the rest, the present insect having the general facies 

 of a small JPsf/IIiodes, fam. Halticidae. Compared with S. difficilis 

 Waterh., from Penang, etc., S. melamirits may be known b}^ its much 

 less elongate shape, the more slender, darker legs, and the laterally 

 extended blackish apical patch. 



71. — Scirtes difficilis,. 

 Scirfes dijicilis Waterh. Cist. Ent. ii, p. 571 (1880). 



Hah. Penaxg {Boicring) ; Chi]s^a {Bowring), Pwanche, Chusan 

 Archipelago (J". J. Walker : 17.vii.l892). 



A narrow, elongate form, testaceous in colour, with the apex of the 

 elytra infuscate or black. The specimen from Pwanche agrees well with 

 the type. The posterior coxal plates are rectangular, as in S. hemi- 

 sphaericus. The two examples in the Museum from the BowTing 

 collection are labelled Penang (the tj^pe) and China respectively, the 

 Penang locality requiring confu*mation. 



72. — Scirtes nilgiriensis, n. sp. 



Short oval, ratlier convex, shining, closely pubescent ; variable in colour—^ 

 piceous, with the basal and outer mar^rins of the prothorax, or the prothorax 

 entirely, the eljtral suture or humeral margin in some examples, two or more 

 of the basal joints of the antennae, the legs in great part or entirely, and occa- 

 sionally the head and basal half of the elytra (indeterminately) also in c? , 

 testaceous ; closely, minutely, the elytra a little more distinctly, punctate. 

 Antennae slender, moderately long, joint 2 very small, shorter than 8. 

 Prothorax arcuately narrowed from the base, hollowed in front opposite the 

 eyes. Elytra with an indication of a faint groove along the suture, narrowly 

 margined; in $ with a shallow depression at the apex just within the sutural 

 angle, which is more acute than in (S . Posterior coxal plates rectangular. 

 Po>terior tibiae moderately widened, the elongate upper spur shorter than the 

 first tarsal joint. 



Length 2-2^, breadth li-2f mm. ( c? $ •) 



Hah. India, Nilgiri Hills {H. L. AndreweSy Sir G. F. Hampson'). 



A long series, varying in colour, including numerous females with 

 the ovipositor protruding, apparently all referable to one species. An 

 obscure, small form, not unlike the equally variable S. suhorhiculatuSy 

 from Central America, but narrower, and with more slender antennae, 

 etc. Compared with >S^. pallidtcs Waterh., from Penang and Siam, 

 the present insect is a little more conxex and has less densely punctate 

 elytra. S. nilgiriensis would jDerhaps have been better placed in the 

 group including Nos. 39-46. 



