No. 9. — 1856-8.] new ceylon coleoptera. 



17 



angles, which can hardly be said to envelope the shoulders, the 

 elytra, by being less or not at all narrowed behind, giving an 

 oblong rather than an oval shape to the insect. Although in 

 length only about one-half shorter, it is in bulk certainly one- 

 fourth smaller than T. cursitans, and, although probably the 

 smallest Ceylon beetle, it is distinguished at first sight. 



13. Ptilium subquadratum. N. 



P. subquadratum, subconvexum, pilosuin, obscure seneo-test aceum, 

 thorace dilutiore. Long. corp. \ lin. 



Caput mediocre. Antennarum clava art. lo inverte conico, 2° sub- 

 cylindrico, ultimo elongato-ovato. Thorax convexus, angulis basalibus 

 humeros fortissime amplectentibus, apicem versus valde rotundatus, apice 

 leviter sinuatus. Elytra quadrata, abdomen non totum obtegentia. 

 Scutellum parvum. Pedes robusti tibiis apicem versus incrassatis, tarsis 

 art. 3° primi secundique longitudine, his subbilobis subtus penicillatis, 

 cexis posticis simplicibus distantibus. Mesosternum non carina turn. 



Ubi prsecedentes sed infrequenter occurrit 



The g Ptilium is the repository for all the anomalies of the 

 family, its characteristics therefore are very vague ; but if the 

 absence of the mesosternal carina and the simplicity of the 

 posterior coxas are the determining features amongst them, the 

 present species, in spite of a variety of anomalies it exhibits 

 in other respects, belongs to it. The head is of middling size ; 

 the antennas robust with the first joint of the club of the shape 

 of an inverted cone, the second rather cylindrical, narrowed at 

 the base, and the last elongate, .ovate. The thorax is of very 

 different structure from that of the foregoing species of the 

 family, the basal angles being unusually far produced beyond 

 the shoulders ; towards the head it is strongly and rapidly 

 rounded off, being thus altogether of a semi-circular shape ; 

 at the apex it is merely slightly sinuated, and the head is 

 inserted rather below than in this sinuosity ; the whole thorax 

 moreover is very convex, whilst the elytra are depressed. The 

 wings vary from the typical form by being fringed with short 

 simple cilia, instead of those long feathery appendages ; they 

 are moreover without a distinct peduncle, but still folded in 

 the manner characteristic of the family. The legs are stout 



