129 



Rhyparida uniformis, Blackb. 



The type of this species was described as ''cyanea," a 

 specimen somewhat doubtfully considered as a variety as 

 "aenea." But as a matter of fact the brassy form is more 

 abundant than the bluish. ("^8) 



Four small (4J-5 mm.) greenish or purplish-blue speci- 

 mens from Cairns and Cooktown may represent a variety, 

 besides in size they differ in being somewhat narrower, with 

 the median impression on the head deeper, but the clypeus 

 less distinctly separated from the face. Their femora are 

 black with a bluish gloss, and three have the tibiae rather 

 deeply infuscated. 



Four small (4-5 mm.) specimens from Roebuck Bay may 

 represent another variety. They are black with a slight 

 coppery gloss, and parts of the under-surface and legs have a 

 slight bluish or greenish gloss, the legs and antennae are 

 mostly of a dingy' testaceous, more or less infuscated in 

 parts. 



Rhyparida discopunctulata, Blackb. 

 PI. viii., figs. 169 and 173. 

 A short, broad form with the elytra scarcely wider 

 than the prothorax at the base, so that their outlines are 

 practically continuous. Although described as ''cyaneo- 

 nigra," it is only the elytra ('*9) that have a bluish (sometimes 

 a greenish) gloss ; occasionally the gloss is entirely absent. 

 The head and legs (wholly or in part) are sometimes obscurely 

 reddish, and the elytra are sometimes diluted with red about 

 the apex. The presternum has a few oblique striae about 

 the base, but they are usually faintly impressed. The length 

 varies from 5 to 6 mm. The species is abundant in Northern 

 Queensland (Bloomfield and Coen Rivers, Bundaberg, Cairns,, 

 and Darnley Island). 



Rhyparida herbacea, Blackb. 



The type and a co-type of this species have the prothorax 

 reddish, and are the only specimens in the Museum so 

 coloured. One marked by the late Rev. T. Blackburn as 

 "(1) herbacea, var.," has the prothorax of the same dull 

 metallic-green as the elytra, but its head is of a dino^y-red, 

 with a metallic-green gloss. Two specimens (from Chillagoe) 

 have the head and prothorax coloured as the elytra; two 

 others (from Chillagoe and Port Denison) have the head 



(48) On this form, including the type, the elytra are more or 

 less purplish. 



(49) The tvDe and three co-types are in the Museum. 



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