192 
REPORT ON ZOOLOGY, MDCCCXLII : 
The reporter has made some contributions to the knowledge of New 
Holland Melolonthm (Arch. 1842, i. p. 160-170). The position of the 
genus Cryptodus (p. 106) 1 have left doubtful. I have since convinced 
myself, that this genus, in a wider sense, does belong to the Melolonthce, 
and certainly to the division of the Gyclocephalites, Lap., where it ap- 
proaches nearest to Lampropus, Lap., which is also to be reckoned in that 
group. The species from Van Diemen’s Land, described by me (ibid, 
p. 160), Cr. anthracinus, is probably the same with Or. tasmannianus^ 
Westw. (Proceed. Ent. Soc. p. 34). 
Several new genera have been characterized, of which Silopa (with 
eight species) ; Nepytis (one species) ; Scitala (two species), stand in 
the middle between the proper Melolonthce and Sericce, as they have, 
in common with the former, the distinct protruding labrum, and with 
the latter, the short blunt mandibles, and broad shield-like femora. 
They correspond, perhaps, partly to the genus Sericestis, Dej. ; Scitala 
especially belongs to it ; different forms, however, appear to be inter- 
mixed. The new genus Telura (one new species) is somewhat more 
aberrant, as its femora do not more than cover one segment of the 
abdomen. One Liparetus and one Phyllotocus (Macrothops) are also 
described. 
Hope has characterized one new genus from Port Essington, Phcenog- 
nathus (Proc. Ent. Soc. p. 45) ; “ Pachypo affine, pedibus posticis longis- 
simis, caput in medio cornutum, labrum porrectum, conicum, mandibulae 
exsertae, antennas 9-articulatas maxillae lobis minutissimis, prothorax 
antice subretusus, elytra conica postice valde attenuata.” One species, 
Ph. Erichsonii ; 3'" long ; doubtful, in my opinion. Also : Sericesthis 
Gouldii, not belonging to the genus characterized by me, but to a 
new one, which I have provisionally marked in the Berlin collection with 
the name of Colpochila ; Liparetra nigricollis ; and, lastly, Mcechidius 
rufus. Westwood has given the diagnoses of five new species of Mcechi- 
dius (comprehending the last), which I here mention by way of supple- 
ment (Proc. Ent. Soc. p. 40). 
In the Ins. of Massachusetts, Harris has contributed some valuable 
information on North American Melolonthidce. Areoda lanigera is par- 
ticularly injurious to pear trees, without, however, sparing others. It 
appears in May and June, and flies in the morning and evening. The 
genus Phyllophaga, Harris, takes a preponderating rank in North 
America (described in 1826, afterwards called Ancylonycha^ by Dejean) ; 
Ph. quercina, appears in May and June, in masses, flying by night, 
chiefly destroying the leaves of the cherry trees. The larvae eat the 
roots of grass, so that the turf can, in spots, be lifted up like a carpet ; 
Ph. fraterna, Harr., somewhat smaller than the preceding, slenderer, 
the dots upon the prothorax and the elytra not so distinct, the three 
raised lines on the elytra scarcely to be perceived, otherwise like 
236 
