ARGOPISTES. 



299 



the segments are somewhat thickened. Prothorax strongly trans- 

 verse, narrowed in front, the sides (viewed from above) rather 

 strongly sloping, anterior lateral angles thickened, posterior 

 margin feebly sinuate; surface minutely punctate, the interstices 

 being not very smooth. Scutellum triangular, with surface smooth 

 and impunctate. Elytra hardly broader at base than prothorax, 

 sides uniformly rounded, humerus somewhat prominent, closely 

 punctate, and scarcely more strongly so than the pronotum. 

 Underside : posterior femora very strongly incrassate ; posterior 

 tibiae very short, broadly dilated at the apex, their edges raised, 

 and ending in a spur with two points ; first segment of posterior 

 tarsi longer than the following two together. 

 Length, 3 mm. 



NiLGiiti Hills (Andrewes Coll.). 

 Type in the British Museum. 



215. Argopistes bistripunctata, Duvivier. 



Argopistes bistripunctata , Duviv., Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. xxxvi, 1892, 

 p. 425. 



Argopistes Icevigata, Jac, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. xl. 1896, p. 264. 



Body subhemispherical. Colour entirely brown ; pronotum 

 with two black spots, and each elytron with three small round 

 spots, placed triangularly. In some specimens the black spots 

 on the pronotum and elytra are obsolescent. 



Head impunctate ; eyes elongate, clvpeus raised into an acute 

 triangular ridge. Antennas extending to a certain distance 

 beyond the base of the prothorax ; their actual length is certainly 

 2| mm. (that is, half the length of the body), though the great 

 convexity of the body makes them appear relatively shorter ; 

 first segment long and club-shaped, second thicker and larger 

 than third, fourth slender and louger than third ; from the fifth 

 the segments are thickened, the apical five are flattened, and the 

 last is somewhat longer. Prothorax much broader than long, 

 strongly curved, anterior lateral angles thickened, anterior margin 

 deeply concave ; posterior margin so strongly curved that the 

 lateral margins are almost horizontal, the anterior and posterior 

 lateral angles being two extreme points of a horizontal line on 

 each side ; posterior margin sinuate, produced into a short lobe 

 in front of the scutellum ; surface finely punctate. Scutellum 

 small, triangular. Elytra strongly rounded, punctate ; the punc- 

 tures are generally confused on the inner part, but towards the 

 sides there is a tendency to form rows, one well-formed row 

 demarcating the expanded lateral margin, while parallel to it 

 there may be one or two rows ; the punctures are a mixture of 

 two sizes, finer and comparatively stronger, and they also vary 

 in depth. Underside : elytral epipleura broad, deeply concave ; 

 prosternum elongate ; underside clothed with thick golden 

 pubescence. 



