291 



Lepidiota picticollis, n. sp. 



Bright castan'eous; head, all margins, and a median line 

 on prothorax, scutellum, under-surface, pygidium, and legs 

 black or blackish; antennae (club castaneous), palpi, and 

 claws obscurely diluted with red. Clothed with seta-like 

 white depressed scales, dense on head, all margins of pro- 

 thorax, scutellum, and sides of abdomen, and not very dense 

 elsewhere ; sterna and base of abdomen with long, dense, 

 whitish pubescence, and with some straggling hairs ; legs with 

 long hairs and white seta-like scales. 



Head with crowded and moderately large punctures; 

 clypeus conspicuously bilobed, with larger and sparser 

 punctures than on the rest of head. Antennae with first 

 joint almost as long as four following combined, second 

 rather short and stout, third and fourth moderately long 

 and subcylindrical, fifth of irregular shape, sixth and seventh 

 very short and strongly transverse; club three-jointed, the 

 lamellae nearly as long as the six preceding joints combined. 

 Prothorax strongly transverse, sides finely margined and 

 feebly crenulated, front without raised margin ; with small 

 and not very dense punctures, becoming crowded at sides and 

 in front, with a shallow medio-frontal impression. Scutellum 

 with rather dense punctures. Elytra at base very little 

 wider than prothorax, sides feebly dilated to near apex; 

 surface lightly rugose, and with small and not dense punc- 

 tures; each elytron with four discal costae, the two inner 

 ones moderately distinct and conjoined to form a small 

 swelling at summit of apical slope, the two outer ones very 

 feeble, with the fourth quite close to the margin. Pygidium 

 rather acutely margined, with a vague median line, tip 

 lightly notched ; punctures crowded and rather small. Legs 

 rather long; front tibiae strongly tridentate, middle tooth 

 nearer the apical than the subbasal one ; tarsi slightly longer 

 than tibiae ; claws each with a long and acute median tooth, 

 and a small subtriangular basal one. Length, 36-38 mm. 



Hab. — Northern Queensland: (H. J. Carter's No. 6) r 

 Stradbroke Island (H. Hacker, Queensland Museum's No. 

 307). Type, I. 4525. 



In general appearance not at all close to any of the 

 species named or identified by the late Rev. T. Blackburn, 

 and at first glance apparently nearer to Pararhopaea and 

 Paralepidiota than to Lepidiota, but the antennal club is 

 rather small and composed of but three joints, hence in his 

 table of the true Jl el olont hides it could only be referred to 

 y eolepidiota or to Lepidiota (unless to a new genus). Re- 

 ferring it to Lepidiota, in his table of that genus it would 

 k2 



