^^4 NEW AUSTRALASIAN BLATTIDAE, 



coloured. The trochanter (Text-fig. 1, e), firmly attaelied to the proximal end 

 of the femur (Text-fig. 1, f) and protecting the coxo-femoral joint, is itself pro- 

 tected by the coxal process, being safely tucked in between it and the distal end 

 of the coxal border. Were it not for this, the trochanter would be in danger 

 of being torn oft as the insect crept through narrow places, but' the coxal pro- 

 cess is admirably adapted to act as a g-uide along which injurious objects might 

 safely ride over the free margin of the trochanter. 



The terms "coxal process" and "posterior coxa" are in use amongst coleop- 

 terists for a structure homologous to that found in the cockroaches; the large 

 flattened-out posterior coxa of the Dytiscidae with its coxal process bears a 

 strong resemblance to the Blattid one, though in the water beetle the coxa is not 

 grooved out to receive the flexed femur, great depression of form not being called 

 for. 



Subfamily BLATTINaE. 



Genus P l a t y z o s t e k i a Br. v. W. 



Platyzosteeia babindae, n.sp. 



Black, nitid. Head black, eyfes greyish, ocelliform spots yellow, antennae 

 fuscous, basal segments darker. Thoracic tergites with large scattered shallow 

 pits; postero-lateral angles slightly produced backwards; posterior margin with 

 a slight medial backward production; no tegminal vestiges, but shallow lateral 

 grooves on the mesonotum and metanotum indicate the position of the lost flying 

 organs {See Shaw, Mem. Qland Mus., vi., 1918, p. 152). Abdominal tergites 

 with a row of short longitudinal earinae at their posterior margins; lateral por- 

 tions of tergites 2, 3 and 4, and the whole of tergites 5, 6 and 7 coarsely 

 scabrous; tergites 5, 6 and 7 with their postero-lateral angles backwardly pro- 

 duced; lateral margins of tergite 7 denticulate, and an orange macula occupying 

 its antero-lateral angle; tergite 9 with the postero-lateral angles yellow. Supra- 

 anal lamina of c? subquadrate, scabrous; posterior margin faintly emarginate, 

 eiliate; lateral margin furnished with a few stout spines; cerci exceeding the 

 lamina by about one-third of their length, tips fuscous. Subgenital lamina of 

 S subquadrate, posterior margin irregularly crenulate and spined (possibly 

 malformed), styles laterally situate, tips rufo-castaneous. Lateral margins and 

 postero-lateral angles of abdominal sternites 7 and 8 spined in 6- Supra-anal 

 lamina of 2 rounded, scabrous, coarsely spined, roundly emarginate, projecting 

 slightly beyond the cerci. Legs black, coxal borders broadly yellow, 

 coxal processes orange red; posterior meta-tarsi shorter than the remaining seg- 

 ments combined, their pulvilli occupying almost their entire length; basal por- 

 tion of the distal segments of all the tarsi yellowish. Length, <S 16 mm., ? 19 mm. 



Type, specimen No. 143 (c?) ; allotype, specimen No. 144 (?), Coll. 

 Shaw. " 



Hob. — Queensland: Babinda (3 specimens. Dr. J. F. Illingworth, Nov., 

 1919). 



Notes. — This species appears to be allied to P. bicolor Kirby, from which 

 its entirely apterous condition distinguishes it. P. bicolor came from Cornwallis 

 Island and Torres Straits and P. babindae mihi, from near Cairns. There are 

 also in my collection specimens from S. Queensland of what seems to be an un- 

 described species, disting-uished from babindae by the absence of the yellow 

 macula on the 7th tergite, and on the other side very close to P. scabrella Tepper, 

 from New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. These four species, with 

 perhaps P. scabra Brunner, may form a group whose winged ancestor came from 



