African Phytophagous Coleqptera. 217 



Miopristis varipes, sp. n. 



Below black, above testaceous, thorax strongly rugose, with two 

 large black spots, elytra extremely closely and irregularly punctured, 

 each with a small spot on the shoulders, one below it and another 

 below the middle near the lateral margins, black. 



Mas. The anterior legs very elongate, the femora dentate near the 

 apex, preceded by shorter teeth, the tibiee long and curved, mucronate, 

 the tarsi elongate. 



Var. The elytra with only one spot at the shoulders. 



Length 6 millim. 



Head broad, finely rugose, the upper portion black, the lower 

 flavous, with an obsolete longitudinal central depression, antennae 

 extending below the thorax, black, the lower four joints flavous, the 

 second and third very small, the fourth elongate and widened, the 

 rest strongly transverse and triangularly dilated, the eyes broadly 

 emarginate at the lower portion, thorax about one half broader than 

 long, the sides feebly rounded, the posterior angles distinct, the disc 

 rather swollen at each side, coarsely rugose and confluently punc- 

 tured, pale fulvous with a large black patch at each side not extending 

 to the apical margin, scutellum narrow, raised, black and shining, 

 elytra less strongly punctured than the thorax, the punctures ex- 

 tremely closely and irregularly placed, testaceous, the shoulders with 

 a black spot, followed immediately by another smaller one near the 

 margins and another one lower down in the same line, legs flavous, 

 the anterior femora and their tibise more or less black above. 



Hah. Cape Colony, Witenhage (G. Barker). 



Amongst the many nearly similarly coloured species of 

 this genus, described by Lacordaire and others, I cannot 

 find one with which to identify the present insect. I 

 would have referred it to M. quadraticollis, Lac, which is 

 of entirely similar colour, but cannot do so on account of 

 the distinctly transverse thorax of the species before me 

 and the almost rugosely punctured elytra. I received 

 three specimens from Mr. Barker, and another is contained 

 in the Belgian Museum collection. These are all males, 

 the female is unknown to me. In only one of the speci- 

 mens are the three elytral spots distinct, in all the others 

 there is only the humeral one present. M. natalensis, 

 Jac, is certainly very closely allied, but the thorax in that 

 insect is remotely punctured, the elytral punctuation is 

 extremely fine and close, and the anterior legs are entirely 

 black. 



