OCR Text |
Show 1900.] FROM S O U T H A N D C E N T R A L AFRICA. 237 Length 5 millim. Head impunctate, with a distinct fovea between the eyes ; the clypeus subquadrate, separated from the face by an obsolete transverse groove, impunctate, its anterior edge concave at the middle ; eyes distant, notched; antennae slender, the lower six joints fulvous, the rest black, second joint elongate, nearly as long as the third, terminal joints scarcely shorter ; thorax twice as broad as long, narrowed in front, the sides straight, the surface finely and subremotely punctured, impunctate near the lateral margins; elytra moderately strongly punctate - striate, the punctures closely placed, distinct to the apex, the interstices fiat, with single very fine punctures ; below and the legs fulvous, the femora with an extremely minute tooth. Hab. Boma, Congo. (Coll. Belgian Mus. and m y own.) Of this Rhembastus three specimens are before me, of which one shows a slight metallic gloss at the apex and at the sides of the elytra. The species is no doubt closely allied toil!, striatipennis Lefev., R.fiavidus, and R. nigritarsis, but seems to differ from all in the minutely punctured interstices of the elytra, or the sculpturing of the thorax and the impuuctate head ; the uniformly coloured legs separate the species from R. nigritarsis, aud the very minute tooth of the femora and other details from R. collaris Gerst. RHEMBASTUS IRREGULARIS, sp. n. Below black, above dark metallic greenish, the basal joints of the antennae fulvous ; head and thorax closely and finely punctured; elytra strongly punctate-striate near the suture, much more closelv and irregularly punctured at the sides. Length 4 millim. Head closely punctured, the clypeus not separated from the face, mandibles robust, piceous; eyes surrounded by a very narrow sulcus : antennae not extending much below the base of the elytra, black, the lower six joints fulvous, terminal joints thickened; thorax twice as broad as long, widened at the middle, the sides obliquely narrowed anteriorly, the surface closely and distinctly but finely punctured ; elytra ovate, convex, more strongly punctured, the punctures arranged in more distinct rows near the suture, the others much more closely placed and less regular, all the puuctures distinct to the apex; breast and abdomen black; legs with a metallic green or aeneous gloss, the tarsi more or less fulvous or piceous ; prosternum twice as long as broad, narrowed at the middle, impuuctate. Hab. Boma and Matadi, Congo. (Coll. Belgian Mus. and my own.) R. irregularis may be separated from any of its congeners by the punctation of the elytra, which differs from other species in not being regular but only partly so; the punctation of the head and thorax will further help to distinguish the species. |