Curculionidte/ro??? South Africa. 547 



Avidth. Venter with the iiitercoxal process gently arcuate 

 and twice as broad as the adjoining' coxa ; ventrite 1 

 (nominal) fused with 2 except at the sides, and 2 as long as 

 3 and 4. 



Genotype, Philet(srohius nidicola, sp. n. 



In spite of various important structural differences, tlie 

 remarkable species for which this genus is founded may best 

 he regarded as a very aberrant form allied to Gronops^ Sclih. 

 The most salient distinctions are : the downwardly directed 

 scroI)es, tlie exserted head, tlie absence of a prosternal 

 furrow and postocular lobes on the prothorax, the much 

 smaller mesepiniera, the unusual tarsal claws^ and the 

 much larger sessile mentum. 



Philetcerubius nidicola, sp. n. (PI. Y. figs. 5, 5 a.) 



^ ? . Integument black, densely covered with an indu- 

 mentum of more or less fused scales, which sometimes 

 present a tessellated appearance on the elytra; the head and 

 rostrnm dark brown with the apex of the latter and a 

 median stripe on the vertex creamy or buff with a metallic 

 reflection ; the pronotum black, irregularly mottled with 

 terra-cotta, or vice versa ; the elytra terra-cotta, Avith irregular 

 spots formed by a rosette-like arrangement of black scales 

 round a puncture and scattered greenish-white scales, the 

 black colour sometimes invading nearly the whole of the 

 disk as far as stria 6 ; the lower surface with dense pearl- 

 grey scaling, turning to buf£ towards the sides and apex of 

 the venter. 



Head broadly and shallowly constricted behind the eyes, 

 Mith close shallow punctation that is visible through the 

 scaling ; the forehead broadly rounded laterally, concealing 

 the eyes, with a deep median depression continuous with that 

 on the rostrum and with very short, stout, erect setse ; the 

 eyes quite flat, longitudinal, deepest in front, narrowing 

 rapidly behind, and with the upper margin quite straight. 

 Rostrum a little longer than broad, widening from base to 

 apex ; the upper surface in the same plane as the forehead, 

 with its lateral margins rounded and WMth a very deep median 

 furrow in the basal half, the sculpturing there hidden by the 

 scaling, and the seta3 like those on the forehead ; the pale 

 declivous apical area gently convex transversely and with 

 longer, broader, and paler erect setse. Antennae wnth joint 

 2 of the funicle about as long as broad, 1 a little longer, and 

 3-7 transverse and of about the same width. Prothorax 

 as long as broad, rounded at the sides, widest before the 



