264 MR. M. JACOBT ON PHYTOPHAGOUS COLEOPTERA [Mar. 6, 



acute ; antenna? extending nearly to the apex of the elytra, black, 

 all the joints, with the exception of the second, elongate, the 

 third joint shorter than the fourth, terminal joint thinner and 

 more cylindrical in shape than the others ; thorax about one-half 

 broader than long, slightly constricted at the base, the angles 

 tuberculiform, the sides nearly straight, the disc with a very deep 

 and broad sulcus, metallic blue, the non-impressed parts very finely 

 punctured, the anterior portion with another small depression ; 

 scutellum broad, metallic blue ; elytra finely and closely punctured, 

 with traces of longitudinal sulci, flavous, the margins narrowly 

 metallic blue ; below and the legs metallic blue. 

 Hab. Natal. (Coll. Mr. Andrewes and my own.) 

 At first sight this species entirely resembles the type of the genus, 

 S. viridicollis Jac. (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1895, p. 333), but may 

 be at once distinguished by the colour of the antenna? and that of 

 the legs; but this is not the only difference. The male of the present 

 insect differs from that of 8. viridicollis in having the antenna? longer 

 and more robust, with the intermediate joints slightly dilated ; the 

 thorax, instead of having two deep fovea?, has a continued broad 

 sulcus, nearly extending to the sides : in the female the antenna? 

 are much shorter, very robust, and the thorax has two fovea? as in 

 the allied species; but in all the specimens the colour of the 

 antenna? and that of the legs agrees with the male of the insect 

 described here, the general size is also rather larger. 



Platyxa>~tha bicixcta, sp. n. (Plate XX. fig. 8.) 



Flavous, the head and thorax reddish fulvous, the latter irapunc- 

 tate, transversely silicate ; elytra extremely minutely punctured, 

 flavous, a narrow transverse band at the base and another near the 

 apex dark metallic blue. 



Length 4 millim. 



Head impunctate, frontal elevations very narrow, in the shape 

 of a transverse ridge, clypeus strongly raised, narrowly triangular ; 

 antenna? extending to the middle of the elytra, flavous, the apical 

 joint fuscous, the second joint small, the third and following joints 

 equal, nearly subcylindrical ; thorax scarcely twice as broad as long, 

 of equal width, the sides feebly rounded, the angles acute, slightly 

 tuberculiform, the surface impunctate, deeply transversely sulcate, 

 the sulcus interrupted at the middle, scutellum fulvous ; elytra 

 slightly wider at the base than the thorax, extremely finely punc- 

 tured, flavous, the base with a narrow transverse band, extending 

 to the margins, the latter and another band near the apex metallic 

 dark blue ; below fulvous, legs flavous ; tibia? unarmed ; the meta- 

 tarsus of the posterior legs as long as the following joints together ; 

 anterior coxal cavities closed. 



Hab. Salisbury, Mashonaland ((?. Marshall). 



A rather small species, possessing all the characters of the genus : 

 it may be known by the colour of the antenna?, which have only 

 the last joint dark, and by the two blue transverse bands of the 

 elytra. 



