195 



elytron. Pygidium densely, subconcentrically strigose. Meso- 

 sternal process short and obtuse. Abdomen strongly convex 

 in middle. Front tibice strongly tridentate and with a strong 

 apical spur : middle tibiae strongly bidentate and strongly bi- 

 spinose at apex, with a strong median tooth and a smaller 

 basal one ; hind pair tridentate and with two very unequal 

 spurs at apex, near middle acutely dentate, and with (or with- 

 out) a smaller tooth towards base. Length, 18-18^ mm. 



Hub.— AVestern Australia: Mullewa (Miss J. F. May). 



At first glance something like large, strongly-sculptured 

 specimens of ruficornis, but the spurs of the hind tibiae readily 

 distinguish from that and from all other species of Australian 

 Cetonides; the smaller one is stout, obtuse, almost parallel- 

 sided and slightly longer than the basal-joint of tarsi; the 

 other is slightly longer than the two basal -joints, scarcely 

 wider than the other at the base, but dilated to apex, which 

 is widely rounded. It is convex outwardly and concave, with 

 a finely-granulated appearance, inwardly. They are evidently 

 used as spades, as there was a considerable amount of earth 

 on them when captured. From most directions the clypeus 

 appears to be entire in front, but from others it is seen to 

 be very feebly bilobed. The tridentate front tibiae are aberrant 

 for the genus, but the species is quite evidently allied to rufi- 

 cornis. There are a few short hairs towards apex of elytra, 

 but they could be easily overlooked. The sharply-contrasted 

 colours of the club are alike on the types. The ridges on 

 each elytron are as follows: — A sutural one (narrowly but 

 distinctly separated from its fellow), the next (and most dis- 

 tinct one) commences near base, and is obscurely joined with 

 the others to form a preapical callus, then there is a less- 

 distinct one, followed by a short feeble one, and finally a 

 moderately-distinct one. On the types the strigae of the 

 pygidium do not circle round a small central space as on 

 most species, but the very tip of the pygidium appears to be 

 the hub, so that the broken rings appear to be cut off, as it 

 were, by the hind margin. 



A badly-broken male (I obtained it with some fragments 

 of other rare beetles from a spider's nest at Mullewa), pro- 

 bably belongs to this species, but differs in being much smaller 

 (14-J mm.) with a conspicuous bluish glcss on the head, pro- 

 thorax, and scutellum, and a purplish gloss on the under - 

 surface and legs. Its antennae are missing, and most of the 

 legs are damaged. The front tibiae are tridentate, with the 

 basal tooth very small, the middle pair are much as in the 

 female, and the hind pair have one tooth about the middle, 

 as on one of the females, but there are some small denticu- 

 lations towards the base ; at the apex only one spur is left 

 h2 



