178 Descriptions of neiv Ceylon Coleoptera. [no. 8, new series, 



as the typical representative of the family in Ceylon and which is 

 here referred to as such) the former by the shortness of the poste- 

 rior 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. 



19. Ptilium suhquadratum. N. 



P. subquadratum, subconvexum, pilosum, obscure seneotestace- 

 um, thorace dilatiore. Long. corp. £ lin. 



Caput mediocre. Antennarum clava art. 1° inverte conico, 2° 

 subcylindrico, 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, coxis posticis simplicibus distantibus. 

 Mesosternum non carinatum. 



Ubi prsecedentes sed infrequenter occurrit. 



The g. Ptilium is the repository for all the anomalies of the fa- 

 mily, its characteristics therefore are very vague, but if the absence 

 of the mesosternal carina and the simplicity of the posterior coxse 

 are the determining features amongst them, the present species, in 

 spite of a variety of anomalies exhibited in other respects, belongs 

 to it. The head is of middling size ; the antennae robust with the 

 1st joint of the club of the shape of an inverted cone, the 2nd ra- 

 ther 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 semicircular 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 



