| OCR Text |
Show 86 MR. M. JACOBY ON THE [Feb. 1, thorax finely punctured ; elytra more distinctly and closely punctate, the interstices slightly rugose. Length 1 line. Head impunctate, the frontal tubercles distinctly raised. Antennse nearly as long as the body, rather robust, the second joint nearly as stout as the first, but shorter; the three following joints more slender, of equal length, the following slightly thicker. Thorax transverse, the anterior angles oblique, notched before the middle, the sides straight, slightly converging outwards ; the surface finely and rather closely punctured. Elytra with a shallow depression below the base, somewhat closely and rugosely punctured, the punctuation visible to the apices; legs short and robust. Balangoda. A. proxima is extremely closely allied to A. sordida, Baly, from Japan, and may possibly be identical with that species; but the depression of the elytra below the base in the Ceylon specimens does not permit m e to refer them to that species, as I cannot see a similar depression in A. sordida, of which I possess several specimens. The antennse in the present insect seem to vary rather in colour, and in one of the specimens, which I look upon as a variety, having been taken together with the others, the third and the fifth joints of the antennse are fulvous, the others black; in this specimen the elytral depression is also much more marked (the base being slightly raised) than in the others. APHTHONA VICINA, sp. nov. Ovate, convex ; black ; the third and one or two following joints of the antennae flavous ; thorax finely and remotely punctured ; elytra more distinctly and closely semipunctate-striate. Length g line. One half smaller than A. proxima, the thorax much less transverse, finely granulate, and the punctuation much more distant; the elytra without any basal depression, very closely punctured; the legs entirely black. A. nigrita, Motsch., is described as " fere glabra " with pale legs. A. obscurata, Motsch., is much larger, also described as glabrous with testaceous tibiae and tarsi. In the present insect the two first joints of the antennse as well as the terminal ones are black, the intermediate joints more or less flavous. Dikoya. APHTHONA DORSALIS, Motsch. The description of the author, "Glabra, rufa, capite, thorace elytris-que dorso nigris, corpore subtus subinfuscata," agrees very nearly with two specimens before me. The antennae (the terminal joint excepted) and the legs are, however, testaceous, and the posterior femora have their posterior portion black; this is not mentioned by Motschulsky. There are also very fine punctures visible at the elytra, when examined under a strong lens. It is therefore doubtful whether I am rightly referring these specimens to the present species. Obtained at the Horton Plains. |
