OCR Text |
Show 1885.] COLEOPTERA F R O M JAPAN. 201 Length 1-11 line. Head with a more or less distinct central longitudinal groove, flavous, rather sparingly impressed with deep irregular punctures ; antenna? slender, the joints elongate, third and fourth of equal length, the five lower ones testaceous, the rest black. Thorax slightly narrowed in front, the sides nearly straight, the posterior angles produced backwards in an acute point; posterior margiu finely serrate, narrowly black; rest of the surface fulvous, rather closely and distinctly punctate, the punctures at the sides of oblong shape, and more closely approached. Scutellum slightly raised behind, testaceous, margined with black. Elytra cylindrical, each elytron with ten rows of deep punctures (the first very short), the fourth and fifth and the seventh and eighth rows united at their ends and abbreviated before the apex; the interstices at the sides slightly convex. Legs entirely fulvous. Underside black, the last abdominal segment testaceous ; prosternum very broad. Nowata, Matsuida, Fukin, road to Oyama, Wady toge. Several nearly similarly coloured species of Cryptocephalus have been described, of which C. bilineatus, Fabr., C. tessellatus, Germ., and G. convexus, Illig., seem to be the most closely allied forms. There are, however, sufficient differences to be found in C. niyro-fasciatus to look upon it as a distinct species, which may be separated from either of the above by the unspotted and distinctly punctured thorax, the punctures of which are distinctly elongate at the sides, and by the colour of the elytra, which have only the black band placed on the disk, the suture and lateral margin remaining of the ground-colour; this dark band is of very variable width, occupying in some specimens nearly the entire disk, while in others it is absent. These latter specimens resemble much in general appearance C. minutus and allied species, but may be at once distinguished by the distinctly punctured thorax. Fourteen specimens of C. nigrofasciatus were obtained at the above-mentioned localities. CRYPTOCEPHALUS DIFFORMIS, n. sp. (Plate XL fig. 6.) Below piceous, above black ; lateral margin of the thorax and elytra, as well as their apices, more or less flavous; thorax extremely closely punctured ; elytra more strongly semipunctate-striate ; legs yellow, the anterior tibia? compressed and dilated. Length If line. Head finely and rather closely punctured, flattened ; clypeus and the labrum flavous. Antennas" two thirds the length of the body, black, the four lower joints flavous or fulvous, third and fourth equah the six terminal joints slightly flattened. Thorax transverse, greatly widened posteriorly, the sides with a rounded and flattened margin; surface extremely closely and rather finely punctured throughout, black, the extreme lateral, and sometimes also the anterior margin, flavous. Scutellum flat, broadly ovate. Elytra as broad as the thorax at the base, not widened behind, much more strongly, distantly, and rather regularly punctured, the punctures |