BY THOMAS G. SLOANE. 325 



seem to compel the recognition of his species as that which I 

 subsequently named T. excisilatera; these are (l)etytra "black," 

 &c, (2) anterior angles of prothorax " much more rounded " than 

 in M. humeralis Macl. Among the species known to me, only 

 T. excisilatera SI., has elytra that could be called black, and the 

 prothorax with anterior angles more rounded than in M. humeralis 

 Macl. When I described T. excisilatera I relied on Fleutiaux's 

 synonymy of M. basalis Macl. 



Hab. — Tropical Australia: JSTickol Bay (fide Castelnau) : 

 Barrow Creek {fide French). Colls. French, Blackburn, Sloane, 

 Macleay Museum. 



Megacephala Australasia Hope. 



Dr. W. Horn formerly expressed the opinion* that Tetracha 

 scapularis Macl., (evidently following Fleutiaux he included T. 

 hopei Cast., under T. scapularis), and T. humeralis Macl., were 

 varieties of Megacephala australasiai Hope (he says the dark 

 elytral marking becomes enlarged towards the end, and forms a 

 cross in M. australasiai Hope). Subsequently having visited 

 London, Tring, and Oxford, and having seen the collections in 

 those places, he reversed his views about T. scapularis after 

 seeing the type-specimen of T. hopei Cast., in the British Museum, 

 and recognised it as a good species, f 



In his " Index" (1905), M. humeralis Macl., (which Dr. Horn 

 has informed me is known to him), is placed as a variety of 

 M. australasice Hope. No doubt this is the opinion of Dr. Horn 

 after seeing types of M. australasiai; and, therefore, it must be 

 accepted as a correct view. Seeing that M. humeralis has a very 

 wide range (I have species from Queensland, Port Darwin and 

 Carnot Bay), while any form with the discal pattern forming a 

 cross is unknown in Australian collections, it looks as if this were 

 the dominant form, M. australasice Hope, being merely a local 

 race. Be that as it may, it appears to me that, as far as Austra- 

 lian collections are concerned, the name M. humeralis Macl., may 



* Deutsche Ent. Zeit. 1896, p. 353. 

 iOp. cit. 1898, p. 194. 



