INSECT FAUNA. 89 



ginous, reaching to the middle of the prothorax, the third joint evidently 

 longer than the succeeding ones. Prothorax finely and sparingly punctured ; 

 anterior angles deflexed and rounded ; the sides slightly narrowed behind 

 the middle ; posterior angles nearly rectangular, very slightly produced ; 

 median line strongly impressed posteriorly. Scutellum rounded behind, 

 very finely and irregularly punctured. Elytra at the base considerably 

 broader than the prothorax, widening for two-thirds of their length, then 

 rounded to the apex, the striae are distinctly punctured, and the interstices 

 broad and very convex. Underside black, highly polished ; first three segments 

 of abdomen finely and irregularly punctured ; sterna and last two abdominal 

 segments extremely finely and irregularly punctured. Legs pitchy black, 

 shining, tarsi clothed with fulvous pubescence. Length 23 — 25 mm. ; greatest 

 width 10 — 11 mm. 



As far as I can judge from the description, the above resembles ~Prometliis 

 lethalis, Pasc, from Queensland, in fades, but in that species the prothorax 

 is said to be more contracted behind, and the elytral punctures indistinct as 

 compared with P. angulata, two points in which this species certainly does 

 not agree. In N. sterrha the prothorax is more rounded in front and less 

 narrowed behind, and the punctures of the elytral stria? are more distinct, 

 although, if anything, less strongly impressed. I have little doubt as to the 

 generic position of this species, which is probably not confined to Lord 

 Howe Island, as it answers very well to Lacordaire's diagnosis of Nyctolates; 

 but I may add, that the characters of the genera in this division of the hetero- 

 merous beetles are generally so unsatisfactory that their identification is a 

 matter of the greatest difficulty, to a student working at a distance from 

 accurately-named collections. If, perchance, any errors of generic identification 

 should occur in the species described in this paper, I trust that the presence 

 of lithographed figures will obviate any serious confusion. 



*Meneeistes vulgaeis, sp. nov. 

 Plate VI, f . 6. 



Elongate, black, shining, moderately convex ; prothorax with the posterior 

 angles very slightly produced ; elytra rather finely punctate-striate, the in- 

 terstices extremely finely punctured. 



Head finely and very densely punctured in front, not so densely punctured 

 behind ; clypeal suture indistinct. Antennae dark ferruginous. Prothorax 

 broadly transverse, slightly narrowed both in front and behind, finely and 

 not very closely punctured, the anterior angles rounded, the sides regularly 

 rounded, the posterior angles slightly produced. Scutellum rounded behind, 

 minutely punctured. Elytra at the base rather broader than the prothorax, 

 widening for two-thirds of their length, then arcuately rounded to the apex, 

 finely punctate-striate, the interstices broad, slightly raised, and minutely 

 punctured. Underside pitchy black, somewhat shining, minutely punctured. 

 Legs pitchy, tarsi paler. Length 12 — 15 mm. 



Summit of Mount Ledgbird (2,500 feet) ; also found abundantly on the 

 low-lying lands. 



This species has many characters in common with Meneristes servulus, 

 Pasc, but its more convex form, rounded prothorax, and finely punctured 

 elytral striae will at once distinguish it. The remarks appended to the last 

 description, with regard to the insufficiency of the generic descriptions in this 

 group, apply with special force to Meneristes and its allies. The forms described 

 here agree with Meneristes, inasmuch that the tibiae are spurred and the 

 femora thickened, but the basal joints of the antennae are more elongate than 

 is usual in that genus. 



