| OCR Text |
Show 1900.] FROM S O U T H A N D C E N T R A L AFRICA. 243 middle, and a spot near the apex blackish,] the suture likewise narrowly black; below fulvous, the legs black, the femora more or less fulvous at the base ; prosternum narrow, mesosternum transversely subquadrate. Hab. Zongo, Mokoanghay, Congo. (Coll. Belgian Mus. and my own.) Of this singularly marked species I received two exactly similar specimens from the Belgian Museum. The eyes are more ovate, less reniform, and more deeply notched than is generally the case in Plagiodera, and the whole appearance of the insect resembles more Chrysomela, but the shape of the thorax and the short dilated antennae as well as the prosternum agree with Plagiodera ; the elytral bands scarcely justify this expression, as they consist of longitudinal irregular-shaped marks partly connected. MELASOMA QUADR1LINEATUM, sp. n. Testaceous, head piceous, closely punctured ; thorax with three longitudinal bands, very closely punctured; elytra strongly and irregularly punctate, the sutural aud lateral margins, as well as two longitudinal stripes, black. Length 6 millim. Of elongate shape, somewhat depressed; the head very closely and finely punctured, piceous, the parts of the mouth paler; antennae very short, testaceous, the apical joints darker, slightly thickened; thorax twice as broad as long, narrowed in front, the sides rounded, the surface punctured like the head, the sides with a small fovea, the middle of the disc with a broad longitudinal band, the sides with an elongate oblique spot, black ; scutellum impunctate, black; elytra more strongly punctured than the thorax, the punctures here and there arranged iu irregular rows, more closely placed and of larger size at the sides, these with a narrow- longitudinal costa placed near the lateral margin, a narrow longitudinal stripe placed on the shoulders and nearly extending to the apex, preceded by a similar stripe, as well as the sutural and lateral margins narrowly, blackish ; below and the legs testaceous. Hab. Matabeleland, near Tati. Of this well-marked species, quite distinct from any of its African congeners, a single specimen is contained in m y collection. HALTICINJE. PHYLLOTRETA CAPENSIS, sp. n. Dark bluish or greenish aeneous, the basal joints of the antennae and the tibiae and tarsi fulvous ; head and thorax strongly and closely punctured; elytra semiregularly punctate-striate, the interstices sparingly and minutely punctured. Length 2 millim. Head very finely and closely punctured ; the clypeus entirely contiguous with the face, rather convex and broad, punctured like the head : antennae not extending to the middle of the elytra. |
