36 



JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON.) [Vol. III. 



sed with four foveas or pits, the posterior angles rounded off. 

 Scutellum minute Elytra with two short humeral costse, sepa- 

 rately rounded off at the apex. Legs stout ; two posterior coxa3 

 distant ; tibias slightly bent at the base, subcylindric at the apex, 

 the four anterior ones hairy; tarsi with joints 1-4 gradually 

 decreasing in size, the anterior ones dilated, the joints trans- 

 versely triangular, the intermediate pair hairy on the inside. 

 Mesosternum of the preceding. Metasternum with a slight 

 longitudinal depression down the middle. Penultimate abdo- 

 minal segment grooved on the back as in S. alatus. In the 

 enlargement of^ the anterior tarsi lies, as in the other beetles, 

 undoubtedly a sexual distinction, as it is not equally strong 

 in all individuals. 



I may mention heie that upon some of the inviduals I 

 found ticks (some g. allied to Ixodes but not a Qamasus) 

 fastened, one of them having made a wound such as, supposing 

 it to be inflicted at a corresponding place and on a proportionate 

 scale, few animals of a higher order, would, I think, have 

 survived. Still this little beetle appeared perfectly at its ease. 

 The parasite alluded to had fastened itself right in the centre 

 of the forehead, and the wound it had inflicted in this, — one 

 would imagine most dangerous place, — was a deep hole or pit 

 with a callous border. The latter led me to infer that the 

 injury was an old one, and the tick being at the time fastened 

 in it (and this so firmly that I had some difficulty in detaching 

 it), I felt sure it had been in this position for months. The 

 injury was observable under a slight magnifier, and I think to 

 compare it to ono inflicted by a rifle-bali would be greatly 

 underrating its importance. 



ii. 



Fourth joint of the maxill. palpi acuminated; mesosternal 

 carina strongly developed ; eyes large, prominent, coarsely 

 granulated; antennas distant at the base ; 2 posterior tro- 

 chanters simple ; thorax variable ; body robust, pyriform, 

 sub-convex. 



m 



Occiput rounded. 



