96 
THE  REV.  F.  W.  HOPE'S  CHARACTERS  AND  DESCRIPTIONS  OF 
Thorax  antic^  declivis. 
Elytra  ad  latera  basin  versus  sinuata. 
The  insects  forming  this  group  differ  so  materially  from  the  type  of  Copris,  Fab. , 
that  I  have  not  hesitated  in  considering  them  as  forming  a  distinct  genus,  to  which  I 
have  applied  the  name  of  Coptorhina,  in  allusion  to  the  deeply  notched  clypeus.  Those 
species  of  the  great  group  Ateuchus  of  Fabricius  which  have  a  strong  emargination  of 
the  elytra  at  their  lateral  edge  near  the  base,  were  separated  from  that  genus  by  lUiger, 
who  gave  them  the  generic  name  of  Gymnopleurus.  A  corresponding  emargination  had 
not  before  been  observed  among  the  Coprides,  and  its  existence  in  the  insects  which  I 
am  about  to  describe,  authorizes  their  separation  on  precisely  similar  grounds  to  those 
on  which  the  genus  Gymnopleurus  rests. 
Coptorhina  is  apparently  the  connecting  link  between  Copris  and  Gymnopleurus  ;  and 
I  have  little  doubt  that  in  tropical  Africa  many  species  of  this  form  will  be  found,  and 
probably  also  a  subgenus  connected  with  it,  having  the  clypeus  entire,  and  the  elytra 
sinuated  near  the  base.  The  connecting  link  between  Copris  and  Ateuchus  appears  to 
me  to  be  still  wanting,  for  I  cannot  consider  as  such  the  genus  Circellium,  Lat.  It  is 
more  difficult  to  connect  Copris  with  Onitis,  Fab. ;  but  it  is  probable  that  in  India,  or 
in  some  of  the  islands  adjacent  to  it,  such  a  link  may  be  found,  assuming  the  form  of 
Onthophagus,  Lat.  It  is  most  likely  that  such  a  form  should  occur  where  Onitis  is  not 
a  prominent  group. 
1.  Coptorhina  Africana. 
Tab.  XIV.  Fig.  1. 
Copt,  nigra;  thorace  antice  retuso,  postice  valde  elevato ;  elytris  convexis,  tenuissime 
punctato-striatis. 
Long,  corporis  (dentibus  clypei  inclusis)  8  lin. ;  lat.  5. 
Hab.  in  Sierra  Leone. 
Mus.  Hope. 
Descr.  Insectum  totum  nigrum,  punctatissimum.  Clypeus  profunde  incisus,  seu  melius 
dentibus  duobus  magnis  armatus.  Thorax  recurvus,  anticfe  retusus,  postice  pro- 
minentia lata  foveola  media  impressa  lineaque  utrinque  impressa  vix  distincta 
neque  ad  marginem  posticum  extensa.  Elytra  ad  latera  sinuata,  undique  punctis 
minutissimis  sparsis  instructa,  striisque  septem  punctorum  majorum  octavaque 
laterali  curva  ad  apicem  excurrente  cumque  stria  dorsali  secunda  conjuncta. 
Scutellum  nvllwca.  CorpMs  magnum,  gibbum.  EZi/fra  abdomen  longitudine  eequantia. 
Pedes  breves,  antici  5-dentati. 
