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Show 260 MR. M. JACOBY ON PHYTOPHAGOUS COLEOPTERA [Mar. 6, base, the mucronate tibiae, and the closed anterior cavities are the principal characters by which the genus may be known. ESTCOURTIANA, gen. nov. Oblong, glabrous ; the antennae short, the joints submoniliform ; thorax subquadrate, without depressions; elytra irregularly punctured, their epipleurae continued below the middle; all the tibiae <\ith a spine at the apex; the first joint of the tarsi as long as the following two joints together; claws appendiculate ; prosternum nearly invisible, the anterior coxal cavities closed. Amongst the genera with closed anterior cavities, the present one seems most nearly allied to Ergana Chap., but tbe antennae in that genus are filiform and the thorax much more transversely shaped. The only species of the genus here described, known to me, is a small insect of nearly subcylindrical shape wThich I have received from Natal and Mashonaland. ESTCOURTIANA BIFASCIATA, sp. n. Below black, above testaceous, the head partly black; thorax minutely punctured, with a central black band and a lateral spot; elytra nearly impunctate, each elytron with a broad longitudinal black band nearly extending to the apex. Var. a. The elytra! bands replaced by an anterior and posterior spot; head fulvous. Var. b. Elytra without any markings. Length 3 millim. Head impunctate, black, obliquely grooved above the eyes, the frontal elevations obsolete, oblique ; clypeus flavous, rather broad ; palpi rather robust, the apical joint conical; antennae very short, the lower five or six joints flavous, the others fuscous, the third joint about one-half longer than the second, the following joints widened, all very short; thorax one-half broader than long, the sides feebly rounded, the angles acute, the surface very finely and subremotely punctured, with a rather deep fovea near the anterior angles ; elytra much wider at the base than the thorax, with some extremely fine punctures near the suture, the rest nearly impunctate, testaceous, a broad black band extends from the middle of the base nearly to the apex ; the underside and the femora black, the tibiae and tarsi flavous. Hcd). Estcourt, Natal, Salisbury, Mashonaland, obtained by sweeping (G. Marshall). The specimens from Natal all belong to the varieties and it may just be possible that they represent a closely allied species, but I cannot find any differences of importance except those of coloration; the thorax is a trifle more transverse iu shape and the extreme sutural margin is likewise black : in the variety a the elytra have an elongate black spot anteriorly and a rounded one below the middle thus indicating the direction of the band ; in the variety b all markings except those of the thorax are absent, these latter |