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Show 1881.] ON THE COLEOPTERA OF SOCOTRA. 469 dark lateral stripe continuing the furthest. Limbs spotted above. Lower parts white. The head above is greyish brown speckled with white. In the largest individual, the length from nose to anus is 1*9 inch, head 0*48, fore limb 0*6, hind limb 1*15. The tail is imperfect. The only specimen with the tail nearly perfect is 4*5 inches long, of which the tail measures 2*75, and the body 175. I know of no nearer ally to this Lizard than E. (Mesalina) par-dalis1, which is a more elongate form, with longer limbs, smaller scales on the back, and of a totally different coloration. Four specimens of this species have been obtained. EUPREPES PERROTTETI, Vai*. There are four specimens of a Scinque with a transparent lower eyelid, the dorsal scales each with three strong keels, 31 to 32 scales round the body, and the back unstriped. I can find no sufficient character to separate this form from the Western-African E. per-rotteti, of which a specimen was obtained by Mr. Jesse in Abyssinia (Geol. Zool. Abyss, p. 456). In the Socotran Scinque, the postfrontals just meet ; and in one example they are separate and the anterior point of the vertical shield is in contact with the rostral, whereas in E. perrotteti from Western Africa, as a rule, the postfrontals form a broad suture together, and completely isolate the vertical from the prsefrontal. But there is much variation, and I find one specimen at least of E. perrotteti, from Senegal, with the postfrontals separate. Also the lobules in front of the ear are in general more elongate and pointed in the Socotran variety; but they are very variable. The coloration of the Socotran examples is uniform dull olive on the back, upper part of limbs, and tail, rufous-brown on the head, and white below. The largest specimen measures 8| inches, of which the tail is nearly 5. E. isseli (Peters, Monatsber. Akad. Berlin, 1871, p. 567), from Northern Abyssinia (Bogos), must be closely allied, but differs in colour, being striped along the side, and in having a single prseocci-pital shield instead of two. 5. On the Coleopterous Insects collected by Prof. I. Bailey Balfour in the island of Socotra. By C H A R L E S O. WATERHOUSE. Communicated by Dr. GUNTHER, F.R.S. [Eeceived March 30, 1881.] (Plate XLIII.) Although the number of species of Beetles collected by Prof. Balfour in Socotra is only twenty-four, there is enough to show, what one would naturally have expected, that the fauna is distinctly African. 1 I a m unable to distinguish between this form and E. guttulata, as I am not sure that the differences shown in Lichtenstein's, Dumeril and Bibron's, and Gray's descriptions are constant. |
