295 



America and is also contained in the British Muséum from Bahia. 

 To my surprise I received the same insect from M. Clavareau with 

 the locality Diego Suarez and on my informing this gentleman of 

 the original habitat of this species, I received his assurance that the 

 insect has undoubtedly been obtained at Madagascar where it must 

 hâve been introduced. It cannot however find its place in Endoce- 

 phahis on account of the tibise which are not chanelled as in that 

 genus and the metatarsus of the posterior legs which is elongate and 

 as long as the foUowing joints together, the same part in Endoce- 

 phalus is short and triangularly widened ; in other respect the two 

 gênera are nearly identical. 



PLAGIODERA NIGRITA n. sp. 



Subglobular, very convex, winged, black and shining, head 

 sparingly, thorax very finely and closely punctured, without 

 thickened margins, elytra irregularly, closely and more strongly 

 punctured than the thorax. 



Length 9 mill. 



Head finely but not closely punctured, the clypeusbounded behind 

 by a deep transverse groove, labrum with a few punctures at the 

 anterior margin,antenn9eextending to the base of the elytra, black, 

 the fourth and foUowing joints gradually widened, the terminal 

 ones strongly transverse and flattened; thorax nearly three times 

 broaderthan long, the posterior margin strongly rounded and pro- 

 duced at the middle but gradually so, the sides feebly rounded, very 

 slightly narrowed anteriorly, narrowly margined,the angles distinct 

 but not produced, the entire surface closely, finely and irregularly 

 punctured with the interstices slightly wrinkled, scutellum broad, 

 sparingly punctured; elytra regularly and very strongly convex, 

 subglobular, more strongly punctured than the thorax, the punctu- 

 res very closely placed with hère and there an arrangement of irre- 

 gular rows, a narrow space in front of the latéral margins slightly 

 raised and impunctate, their epipleurse broad and slightly concave ; 

 prosternum longitudinally grooved. 



Hah. Diego Suarez. 



It is probable, that this large sized and strongly convex species 

 may be better placed in a separate genus as it has lost partly the 

 typical characters of P?a^toc?era, but the almost filiform palpi, the 

 strongly dilated terminal joints of the antenn8e,the shape and struc- 

 ture of the thorax and other détails agrée better with that genus 

 than with any other; the entire insect is of a shining black colour, 

 the tibiae are dilated at the apex and chanelled, the tarsi are broad 

 and the claws are simple; the gênerai appearance is that of a species 

 of the genus Chrysomela. 



