"270 GUY A. K. MARSHALL. 



but much broader than 2,* the remaining joints very slightly widening outwardly, 

 3 a little longer than 4, 4 to 6 subequal and about as long as broad, 7 slightly 

 transverse. Prothorax somewhat broader than long, the sides strongly rounded, 

 broadest before the middle, deeply constricted quite close to the apex, the base 

 shallowly bisinuate ; the actual basal margin is sunk" considerably below the general 

 level of the prothorax, except in the middle, where the central costa projects 

 backwards as short sharp process ; the whole upper surface covered with large 

 reticulated punctures, except along the middle line, where there is a conspicuous 

 smooth ridge. Elytra broadly ovate, the sides slightly rounded, broadest before the 

 middle, the basal margin distinctly broader than that of the prothorax, its external 

 angles projecting slightly forwards, the apices jointly rounded ; the dorsal outline 

 quite flat for more than three-fifths of its length, the apical declivity steep ; the 

 striae broad and very shallow, containing large punctures, the interspaces between 

 which are hardly lower than the longitudinal intervals, the latter not broader than 

 the punctures, nearly flat, minutely scratched and without granules ; the abbreviated 

 tenth stria very indistinct. Legs short, broad and compressed ; femora with fairly 

 dense recumbent scale-like setae and shallowly furrowed beneath, the hind pair 

 extending to the end of the fourth ventral segment ; the tibiae with dense erect 

 scale-like setae, especially along the carinate dorsal edge, but with a bare space 

 on the apical two-thirds of the posterior face to accommodate the tarsus when folded 

 back, and a pad of golden-brown hairs at the apex of the anterior face, the dorsal 

 carina being simple and not angulate. Abdomen with erect pale setae on the ventral 

 surface ; in the (J, the first ventral segment with a very large shallow median 

 impression, an impunctate strip along the basal margin and the apical margin raised 

 above the second segment, which is not longer than the third ; in the 2> "the first 

 ventral segment not impressed, punctate right up to the base, and its apical margin 

 not raised, the second segment almost as long as the third and fourth together, the 

 retractile eighth tergite long and narrowed, its apex armed with four well- 

 marked teeth, the outer incisions between them being deeper than the central one. 

 Length, 4 mm. ; breadth, 2 mm. 

 Types, <J Q, in the British Museum. 



Faust has described his two species as having shoulders to the elytra ; but he 

 often used the word laxly to indicate that the basal angles of the elytra project 

 beyond those of the prothorax, and the true humeral prominence, which indicates 

 the presence of functional wings, is not present, all these species being wingless. 



Mr. Ritchie states that the damage done to sweet potatoes by this weevil is quite 

 similar to that inflicted by the common West Indian pest, Euscepes batatae, Waterh., 

 locally known as the " scarabee." As the two insects would almost certainly be 

 confused by untrained observers, it seems very probable, as he suggests, that some 

 of the injury attributed to the Euscepes has been really due to the Palaeopus. 



In the British Museum collection I have found two other specimens of this genus, 

 one coming from St. Vincent and the other from Grenada. These are specifically 

 distinct from the Jamaican species and from each other, and as it is quite likely that 

 they will prove to have similar habits, they are described below. 



* In his generic diagnosis Faust states that joint 1 is longer than 2 ; but I have 

 examined cotypes of both his species, in which these joints appear to me to be equal. 



