of the Royal Physical Society. 285 



a little broader than it; base straight, and sides nearly parallel, 

 widening very slightly before the apex, which is sinuate-trun- 

 cate ; punctate-striate, the punctures on the striae small and 

 feeble; interstices impunctate, but appearing somewhat silky 

 from excessively fine transverse strigations, which are only 

 visible under a powerful lens; the stria? are eight in number, 

 besides the short scutellar stria and the marginal stria; the 

 latter is irregularly interspersed with deep, large punctures ; 

 there are two large punctures in the interstice between the 

 second and third striae, the one about a third from the base, and 

 the other almost at the very apex. A large testaceous patch 

 occurs at the base of each elytron, stretching obliquely from the 

 shoulder towards the suture, not quite reaching the first stria ; 

 and there is a third testaceous patch near the apex, common to 

 both elytra, and reaching to the fourth stria. The upper side 

 of the last abdominal segment has a number of distinct punc- 

 tures on it. Under side same colour as the upper, centre rather 

 paler. Legs slight, moderate in length ; the tarsi slender, 

 fourth joint simple (not bilobed) ; claws not pectinate. 



Nycteis, Casteln. 



Under this genus I include all those insects which have the 

 characters of Coptodera, excepting the middle tooth of the men- 

 turn. Castelnau and Chaudoir have added other characters 

 besides this to the diagnoses of their respective genera, Nycteis 

 and Belonognatha, which would exclude from them the species I 

 am going to describe ; but as these characters do not appear to 

 me to be of essential value, I consider I do rightly in retrenching 

 them, and thus opening the genus for the reception of species 

 which agree with them in all important points. For instance, 

 the only particulars in which the species which follows (N. Cham- 

 pioni) differs from Castelnau's diagnosis of Nycteis is — 1. that 

 in his genus the last joint of the palpi is said to be " obtuse at 

 the end," while mine is " subacuminate," a difference which may 

 perhaps principally lie in the mode of expression ; and 2. that 

 in his the external and sutural angles at the apex of the elytra 

 are more or less spined, while in Championi they are not spined, 

 although toothed at the external angle. 



The distinctions, too, between this genus and Belonognatha. 

 Chaud., do not seem sufficient to warrant their being kept sepa- 

 rate. They are, the greater projection of the mandibles and 

 greater convexity of the body in the latter, as well as the ex- 

 ternal angles of the apex of the elytra being rounded instead 

 of toothed ; but one of the species which follow (N. intermedins) 



