| OCR Text |
Show 1904.] OF rrnE GENUS mrroRimiNUS. 25 4. H. OAXUS Mshl. (Plate I. fig. 1.) //. oaxus Mshl. Ann. Nat. Hist. (7) x. p. 416 (1902). Long. 23-34, lat. 8|-9 mm. Head convex, bare, punctuation close but faint on vertex, deeper and more scattered ixx front, forehead rather retuse and with two faint rounded impressions ; anteocular furrows distinct. Rostrum cut off from head by a deep dorsal incision, almost as long as head and prothox-ax, distinctly curved, subparallel from base to beyoxxd middle, then gradually dilated to apex. Upper surface convex in the basal part, which is smooth, shiny, and with fine sparse punctuation, very shallowly excavate towards apex, whex'e the punctures axe much closer and deeper; lateral sulci strong and deep, the intex-vening carina naxTOW and undulating, the lower pair longer, the upper pair scarcely uniting at base; scrobes deep, lateral axxd pax'allel with sulci; inferior basal furrow very broad and deep. Antennce with scape just reaching eye; 2nd joint of funicle longer thaxx 1st in <$ , subequal in $ . Prothorax rather broader than long, apex about as broad as base, which is equal to the length in $ , but narrower in S, sides distinctly rounded, broadest about middle, dorsal antex-ior margin truncate, ocular lobes strongly developed. Upper surface slightly convex, fairly closely set with large elevated rounded tubercles bearing depressed setae and leaving a narrow central furi-ow without a carina; scaling absent. Elytra oblongo-ovate, shoulders rounded and more prominent in 5, sides slightly rounded, broadest before middle, apices slightly axxd bluntly projecting ixx o*, with sharp parallel processes in 5 1 mm. long. Upper surface coixvex, the dorsal stxda? simply puxxctate, the outer oixes granulate ; interval 1 quite smooth to xxear the declivity, but with distixxct granules froxn there to apex; interval 2 quite smooth throughout; 3, 5, and 7 with tubercles stx'ongly depressed to beyond middle, then shai"ply conical, those on 3 being specially prominent and continued right on to the apical processes in both sexes; intervals 4 and 6 with rows of depressed tubercles ceasing beyond middle ; tubercles almost entirely devoid of seta?. Elytra bare axxd with a strong dull bronze reflexion. Legs without scaling; femora finely punctured at base, impunctate in middle and very coarsely punctured at apex; the posterior and anterior tibia? strongly curved in J, especially the former; joints 2 and 3 of posterior tarsi subequal, the 1st a little longer. C A P E COLONY. T Y P E in the British Museum. Very nearly allied to H. vemtcosus L., but in addition to the distinctions mentioned in the key, it differs in having the thoracic tubercles more elevated ; the discal portions of intervals 1 and 3 near the base are quite plane and smooth, axid not tuberculate or carinate ; the discal punctures on the elytra are deep axxd simple, whereas in verrucosus they are shallow and with a small but distinct granule at the side of each. |
