OCR Text |
Show 24 MR. G. A. K. MARSHALL ON COLEOPTERA [Jan. 19, vexy sparse pale scaling and seta?, Forming a pale ring near apex of femora; posterior tarsi broad, spongy, 3rd joint a little broader than the other two, 2nd and 3rd subequal, 1st rather longer. C A P E COLONY : Uitenhage {Rev. J. A. O'Neil), Fraserbxxrg {E. G. Alston). T Y P E in the Stockholm Museum. 3. H. VERRUCOSUS L. Curculio verrucosus L. Mus. Lud. Ulr. p. 60 (1764); 01. Ent. v. 83, p. 387, t. 10. f. 125, $ (1807); Herbst, Col. vi. p. 308, t. 84. f. 5, S (1795). H. verrucosus Gyl. Schonh. Gen. Cure. i. p. 481 (1833). Long. 21-25, lat. 8|-10 mm. Head convex, shagreened and with sparse scaling on vertex, forehead distinctly but dispersely punctured and with a central fovea or short stria; anteocular furrows indistinct. Rostrum shorter than prothox-ax, cut off from head by a deep basal incision, thick, strongly curved and gradually dilated to apex. Upper surface with a deep central furrow, narrow at base and dilating anteriorly, deeply and sometimes rugosely punctured ; lateral sulci deep, the upper pair uniting at base and much longer than the lower; scrobes broad and deep, entirely lateral; inferior basal furrow very deep. Antennas with scape reaching eyes ; the two basal joints of funicle subequal. Prothorax rather broader than long, apex narrower than base, sides rounded, broadest about middle, dorsal anterior margin slightly convex, ocular lobes well developed. Upper surface convex, closely but irregularly set with lax-ge flattened tubercles, leaving a distinct central furrow containing a vexy faint carina; tubercles black, bare, each with a large puncture but no seta, the interstices normally greenish bronze with sparse pale depressed seta?. Elytra elongato-ovate, acuminate apically, shoulders prominent, sides ampliated, broadest before middle, apical processes strongly tuberculate, short and rounded in o*, elongate, thick and subcorneal in $. Upper surface convex, with rows of remote shallow pxxnetures separated by small granules; intervals 3,5, and 7 with complete rows of depressed, elongate and catenulate tubercles which become conical and separated close to apex ; intervals 1 and 6 with similar but much less complete rows ; 2 and 4 quite smooth ; apices of tubercles bare, black, only a few of them with short setae; the intex*stices devoid of scaling, black with a strong bronze or greenish-bronze lustre. Legs with sparse setae, the posterior tibiae very strongly curved in J only; posterior tarsi with the joixxts of the same width, 2nd and 3rd subequal, 1st rather longer. C A P E COLONY : Cape Town, Stellenbosch {L. Peringuey). Of this striking and aberrant species Mr. Peringuey notes that it is not uncommon about the Cape and may be met crawling slowly along the ground. He has found it on heath plants and also on the branches of the Sugar Bush {Protect grandiflora) and Silver Tree {Leucadendron argenteum). |