186 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



(251) 13. * Leptura Proteus. Proteus Leptura. 



L. (Proteus) nigra, subpubescens, nitidiuscula ; oculis integris subauratis , antenms elytris pedibusque colore varianlibus ; pro- 



thorace canaliculato postice bigibbere. 

 Proteus Leptura, black, subpubescent, rather glossy ; eyes entire, inclining to a golden lustre ; antennae, elytra, and legs 

 varying in colour; protborax channelled, posteriorly with a gibbosity on each side. 



Length of the body 3£— 5J lines. 



Taken abundantly in Lat. 54°. and 65°. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Body narrow, black, punctured, somewhat glossy, rather hairy, especially underneath, with decum- 

 bent hairs, those on the elytra have somewhat of a golden lustre, the rest are silvery. Nose more 

 grossly punctured than the rest of the head; vertex convex; eyes subovate, pale with a slight 

 golden lustre; antenna; filiform, longer than the prothorax, obscurely rufous, with the four first 

 joints black, fifth joint longer than the fourth : prothorax campanulate, anteriorly constricted, posterior 

 angles a little diverging ; thinly punctured ; channelled, the channel running between two dorsal 

 gibbosities : scutellum triangular : elytra rather widest at the base, and punctured there more grossly 

 next the suture ; diverging and truncated at the apex : tibia; piceous or rufo-piceous ; four posterior 

 thighs rufous at the base. 



Variety B. In this variety only the base of the six last joints of the antenna; is rufous; all the 

 thighs are rufous at the base, and the tibia; of a clearer red, but they are dusky 

 at the apex ; tarsi rufous at the base. Length of the body 3f lines. 



C. Elytra with a stripe at the base, tips and lateral margin rufous : antennae entirely 



black : legs as in variety B. Length of the body 4f lines. 



D. Elytra with a longitudinal rufous stripe dilated at the base and apex ; bead of the 



lateral margin also rufous : antenna; and legs nearly as in B, but the whole of 

 the tarsi is obscurely rufous. Length of the body 3 — 4 lines. 



E. Elytra rufous with the suture and a stripe near the margin abbreviated at both ends, 



dusky : antenna; as in A ; legs as in B. Length of the body 4 — 5 lines. 



F. Elytra rufous, with a dusky suture ; antenna; as in A ; legs as in D. 



G. Like F, but elytra luteous ; antenna; all black. Length of the body 4 lines. 

 H. Like F and G, but legs and antenna; black. Length of the body 3| lines. 



This species is the American representative of L. femorata of Paykull and Gyllenhal, which is 

 not clearly synonymous with that of Fabricius and Olivier, it differs, without mentioning colour, in 

 having much shorter antennas, and in being glossy. Mr. Marsham's L. femorala has reniform 

 eyes, and therefore belongs to another section, it may be that of Olivier. 



L. Proteus seems to vary ad infinitum in the colour of the elytra, antenna;, and legs, but as all 

 the varieties agree in every respect except colour and size, and the elytra advance so gradually from 

 pale rufous to black, or vice versa, there can be little doubt of the identity of the different varieties. 



