OCR Text |
Show 266 MR. c. o. W A T E R H O U S E O N [Feb. 15, female, and gently emarginate in the male. The head and thorax are sometimes yellow, sometimes black. The elytra are yellow or red, uniform or marked with black ; with one or two spots at the base of each elytron, one a little before the middle (which frequently extends into a fascia), a spot rather behind the middle (which sometimes extends into a fascia or occupies the whole apical region). Length 5|-6 lines. I have not been able to find where Mr. Baly described this species. 25. ARESCUS PULCHER, n. sp. (Plate XXX. figs. 11, 12.) This species most nearly approaches A. labiatus, but differs in having the antennae almost entirely black. The interantennal process of the forehead is broader and more obtuse. The elytra are yellow with deep violet or bluish spots and bands, instead of having the marking nearly black as in A. labiatus ; and there are only two spots at the base of each elytron instead of three; the dorsal spot being more removed from the suture, is more in the middle of the base ; and the humeral spot is more above the shoulder than at the side of the humeral callosity as in A. labiatus. Length 7 lines. - Var. 1. Elytra yellow with two spots at the base. Var. 2. Elytra with two spots at the base, with a broad fascia before and another behind the middle. Var. 3. Like variety 2, but with the two basal spots confluent. Var. A. Head, sides of thorax, and legs reddish yellow; elytra with two spots at the base, a broad fascia before the middle, and a large oval spot in the apical area. 26. ARESCUS ^EMULUS, n. sp. (Plate XXX. fig. 13.) A. pallide flavus ; thorace antice sat angustato, ad latera sat elytris plaga magna cyanea. Long. 5J lin. Most nearly allied to A. perplexus, Baly, but differs in having the thorax much narrower, and distinctly narrowed anteriorly, less convex, and with the posterior angles more divergent; at the sides and the region of the posterior angles there are some rather strong punctures. The coloration would probably vary, as in the other species ; but in the specimen which I am describing, the antennae (except at the base beneath), the scutellum, the edge of the tibiae, and the tarsi are black. The elytra are very pale yellow, with a large patch of dark blue behind the middle ; but this patch is not of quite the same shape on the two elytra. 27. ARESCUS HISTRIO, Baly, Cat. Brit. Mus. p. 82, pi. vi. f. 8. Mr. Buckley found this species in great abundance. It is the most variable Coleopterous insect at present known, and has this remarkable peculiarity, that the elytra have sometimes a longitudinal stripe and in some varieties transverse bands. |