1897.] of the Goleoptera of South Africa. 83 



abdomen more or less immarginate, the first segment only having a 

 carinule, which in some cases is entirely wanting. 



Some species from Asia and America have a very globular body 

 the abdomen is nearly entirely marginate, and the frontal part pro- 

 longed in a long and narrow tubercle bearing antennae geniculate like 

 those of CurculioniclcB. 



This tribe is perhaps the most numerous of the family, and is 

 largely represented in the tropical parts of Asia and America ; they 

 are rare in Europe, in Australia, and in Africa, and so far only four 

 species are known as occurring in South Africa. 



One of these four belongs to a genus exclusively African, and met 

 with in Eastern Africa from Abyssinia to Zanzibar ; another is, 

 strange to say, the only representative in the Old World of a genus 

 numerous and widely distributed in America. No explanation of 

 this is possible, but there can be no doubt whatever as to the close 

 relationship of this African insect to its American congeners ; the 

 third one belongs to a new genus also more closely allied to an 

 American genus than to any other ; the fourth belongs to a genus 

 very numerous in the Indo-Malayan region, but having only very 

 few representatives in Africa. 



Gen. BATOXYLA. 



Elongate, cylindrical ; head equal, depressed, attenuate, retuse 

 behind ; eyes large, placed backwards ; antennae distant at base, 

 thick, moniliform, club large, triarticulate ; prothorax cordate and 

 without sulci ; elytra elongate, without striae, shoulders oblique and 

 well developed ; abdomen shorter than the elytra, immarginate, first 

 dorsal segment much larger than the others ; posterior coxae distant, 

 second ventral segment longer than the following ones, first ventral 

 segment conspicuous ; legs hardly elongate and rather thick. 



This new genus is very closely allied to Batoctenus, Sharp, from 



Central America, and differs only by the head being attenuate in the 



frontal part, and not at all nodose above the insertion of the antennae, 



which are stouter and have a large club ; the elytra are without 



striae, whereas Batoctenus has three ; the first dorsal segment of 



the abdomen is much larger, and the abdomen is entirely without 



margins. 



Batoxyla punctata, 



Plate XVII., fig. 4. 



Ferruginous, subopaque, totally covered with large, ocellate, but 

 shallow punctures, briefly and sparsely pubescent, the pubescence 

 pallid ; head depressed slightly on the upper part and having two 

 minute foveae between the eyes on the vertex ; first joint of antennae 



