46 





copper colour, and is coarsely and confluently rugulose. The 

 pattern on the elytra (apart from colour) resembles roughly that 

 of S. cyanicollis, Boisd., as figured by Mr. Saunders (loc. cit.) but 

 the fasciae or spots are not connected by dark colouring on the 

 suture, except in occasional examples having the median fascia 

 and prseapical spot connected. In some specimens, however, 

 the three spots placed transversely across the sub-basal part of 

 the elytra are narrowly confluent so as to form a fascia, and the 

 shape of the common prseapical spot varies from circular to semi- 

 circular. 



W. Australia (taken near Cue by Mr. Ellershaw). 



S. quadrifasciata, Saund. I met with a few specimens 



(evidently identical with the insect on which this species was 



founded) in Central Australia on the flowers of a small shrub 



(unknown to me by name) near the Cecilia Creek. It is a 



variable species, both the basal and subapical fasciae of the elytra 



having a tendency to break up into isolated spots placed in a 



transverse row. In Saunders' description the colour of the 



abdomen is given as " olivaceous " as distinguished from the 



cyaneous remainder of the under surface, while in my three 



examples the under surface is uniformly cyaneous, but as in all 



other respects my examples agree absolutely with the figure and 



description (allowing for the variation in the elytral pattern in 



two of them as noted above) I have no doubt the recorded 



colouring of the abdomen is either sexual or occasional. 



S. ruhriventris, sp. nov. Modice elongata, minus convexa, pone 



medium modice dilatata ; sat nitida ; supra glabra, subtus 



sparsim argenteo-pilosa ; aenea, elytris rufis notas cyaneas 



praebentibus [sc, maculas 3 postbasales transversim positas 



(e his mediana communi late ad basin producta, his in 



exemplis nonnullis fere confluentibus), fasciam postmedianam 



integram cum macula postbasali mediana anguste in sutura 



connexam, et maculam apicalem communem subtriangularem 



(hac cum fascia postmediana anguste in sutura connexa et 



ad apicem summam dilatata)], antennis pedibusque violaceis, 



abdomine rubro ad basin aenescenti ; capite sat brevi, crebre 



fortiterpunctulato,longitudinaliter concavo; prothorace quam 



longiori (et postice quam antice) ut 12 ad 7 latiori, crebre 



sat fortiter (ad latera subrugulose) punctulato, in medio 



anguste interrupte longitudinaliter laevi, lateribus pone 



medium fortiter dilatato-rotundatis, angulis anticis acutis 



posticis rectis, basi leviter bisinuata ; elytris striatis, striis 



subtiliter punctulatis, intersdtiis antice parum (postice 



fortiter) convexis sparsim (latera versus magis crebre) 



punctulatis, ad apicem acuminatis haud (vel oblique vix 



manifeste) emarginatis, lateribus haud crenulatis ; unguiculis 



mocicis fortiter divergentibus. Long., 6^ 1.; lat., 2^- 1. 



