1896.J of the Goleoptera of South Africa. 395 



SCARITES MOLOSSUS, Klug, 



Peters' Eeise n. Mossamb., 1862, p. 155, pi. viii., fig. 9. 



Anterior part of the head and frontal depressions much pHcate ; 

 prothorax a httle more than one-third wider than long, a little 

 rounded laterally from the anterior to the posterior angle, lateral 

 part of the base not much slanting, median part truncate ; elytra 

 not so broad at the base as the basal part of the prothorax at the 

 angles, elongato-ovate, with the humeral part sloping and the angle 

 projecting but httle, distinctly striate, with the intervals convex and 

 the sixth, seventh and eighth somewhat carinate, the eighth one 

 does not reach the base, the third interval has two setigerous 

 punctures on the posterior part, the upper one nearly in the stria ; 

 outer margin very shghtly granulose, and with a regular series of 

 setigerous punctures reaching from the median part to the apex ; the 

 base is also shghtly granulose ; anterior tibiae bidentate above the 

 digitation. Length 29 mm. ; width 9| mm. 



This species is very distinct, owing to the ovate form of the elytra, 

 which approximate it to some Haplotrachelus. 



Hah. Originally discovered near the Zambeze Eiver (Tette) ; it 

 also occurs in East Central Africa (Tabora), and in Zambezia 

 (Buluwayo) . 



ScARiTES NiGRiTUS, Bohem., 

 Insect. Caffr., i., p. 118. 



Black, very shining ; head very broad in the male, a little less so 

 in the female ; paragense much developed, with anterior part of the 

 outer sides very obliquely truncate ; antennge with moniliform joints, 

 and reaching only a little beyond the median part ; anterior part of 

 the head conspicuously plicate, frontal depressions not deep ; pro- 

 thorax slightly broader at the apex than across the posterior angles 

 with the outer sides straight, the lateral part of the base a little 

 rounded, and the median part slightly sinuate but not projecting 

 behind ; elytra one-third narrower at the base than the prothorax at 

 its widest, gradually ampliated from one-third of the length to about 

 the part where it is nearly as broad as the prothorax, convex, deeply 

 striate, with the intervals convex, the eighth one very narrow, 

 carinate, and separated from the base, the third stria with five 

 setigerous punctures in the male, almost equidistant from a short 

 distance from the base to the apical part of the stria, while in the 

 female the two anterior punctures are missing, outer margin mode- 

 rately broad, granulose, base also granulose, and with a series of 

 very small tubercles ; anterior tibiae uni- or bi-dentate above the 

 digitation. Length 22-27 mm. ; width 7-8 mm. 



Easily distinguished from S. Herbsti, which has five punctures on 



