168 



the others, the spotting is not traceable. There are also 

 specimens in the Macleay Museum from North-western 

 Australia. 



SCELODONTA BREVIPILIS, n. Sp. 



PL viii., fig. 107. 

 (j" . Brassy or bronzy ; sides of prothorax (the disc 

 glabrous) and the elytra with very short and sparse pubescence,, 

 under-surface, legs, and head with somewhat denser and rather 

 longer pubescence, becoming dense and almost of a snowy 

 whiteness on flanks of metasternum ; tibial notches rather 

 densely ciliated. 



Head with dense and rather small punctures ; with three- 

 conspicuous impressions connected with clypeal suture— a 

 median one vanishing on the forehead and a deep groove 

 curving round each eye. Antennae moderately long, second' 

 joint stouter and shorter than third. Frothorax about as long 

 as wide, sides evenly rounded ; with dense punctures, many of 

 which are transversely confluent. Scutdhini parallel-sided, 

 apex feebly produced in middle. Elytra much w^ider than 

 prothorax, shoulders prominent, sides behind them feebly 

 decreasing in width; with rows of rather large punctures, 

 becoming small posteriorly, the interstices with small punctures 

 and feebly wrinkled. Abdomen with fifth segment slightly 

 shorter than third and fourth combined. Fe/nora stout, middle 

 pair strongly, hind pair moderately, front pair lightly dentate ; 

 tibiae with several acute ridges, middle pair rather suddenly 

 bent downwards at middle ; basal- joint of front tarsi rather 

 strongly inflated. Length, 4-5 mm. 



9 . Differs in being somewhat stouter, abdomen more 

 convex, with the apical segment somewhat shorter, middle 

 tibiae less curved, and basal joint of front tarsi much smaller. 

 Hah. — Queensland: Cape York (W. D. Dodd), Bunda- 

 berg (Blackburn's collection), Cooktown (C. French), Kuranda 

 (H. J. Carter from G. E. Bryant), Cairns district (Macleay 

 Museum, E. Allen, E. W. Ferguson, and A. M. Lea), Brisbane 

 (H. Hacker), Wide Bay, Endeavour River ; New South Wales : 

 Darling River (Macleay Museum). Type, L 3283. 



Structurally very close to simoni, but the elytral clothing 

 very much shorter, pronotum glabrous in middle, and middle 

 tibiae very different. Even the antennae are more or less 

 metallic on the basal half ; many specimens have two bluish 

 or purplish spots on each elytron, one between the shoulder 

 and suture, the other a short distance behind the first; some 

 specimens are more conspicuously metallic than others, and 

 an occasional specimen is almost of a golden red. The elytra 

 have several shallow depressions in the vicinity of the shoulders,, 

 and the punctures there are larger than elsewhere. 



