natural, history

to interval 7 for a short distance, then rapidly expanding inwards to form a largepale triangle covering the side of the declivity and enclosing a variable brown spot,the apex of the triangle reaching stria 2; the lateral margins light brown.Head very nearly concealed from above when withdrawn, with dense brownscales, irregular low bare granules, and a very deep large median fovea. Rostrumshort and stout. widening from th,e antennae to the base and more abruptly at theapex. the dorsum with very coarse conRuent punctures. Antennae inserted at themiddle of the rostrum. red-brown; the funicle with joint 2 longer than I. Pro thoraxslightly transverse (I I: 14). subconical, somewhat rounded laterally, widening fromthe base to one-third. then rapidly narrowing to the apex, the arcuate apical marginless than half the width of the subtruncate base; the dorsum flat down the middle.with very shallow coarse punctures that are almost entirely concealed by the scalesand with very sparse small low bare granules showing through. also with very shortstiff erect setae. which are more conspicuous laterally. Ell'tra broad Iy ovate. widest atone-third from the base, rapidly narrowing behind and rather broadly rounded atthe apex. subtruncate at the base but with the basal angles curving very slightly forwards;the striae rather broad and deep. with large separated punctures that arepartly obscured by scales, stria 6 reaching the base; the intervals all subcostate. bearinga more or less irregular row of small bare granules alternating with very short broadsuberect setae. Legs rugose, with large shallow punctures and subrecumbent shortsetae; the femora without a tooth; the hind tarsi with joint I as long as 2 -~ 3. Sternumwith the mesosterna I receptacle more than twice as broad as long.Length 5-7 mm.Rennelll., Hutuna. 33'. X. 1953 (Brit. Exp.).Holotype in the British Museum.This species is provisionally assigned to the genus Noriloperissops in spite of thefact that its femora are unarmed. The genotype. S. alternans Hllr.. from New Caledonia,differs in being of a uniform brown colour and larger size (10 mm.); further ithas no granules above. intervals 3 and 5 of the elytra are more raised. and the mesosternalreceptacle is nearly as long as broad.Hitherto this genus has been known only from New Hebrides and the Loyalty Is.Psepholax sp.Lavanggu to Te-Avamanggu, I d. X. 1951 (Dan. Exp.).This genus is well represented in New Zealand. and occurs also in Australia andNew Caledonia. This seems to be the first record from the Solomons.Acryptorhynchus sp.Hutuna, I ~, Xl. 1953 (Brit. Exp.).Probably an introduced species. The genus is widely distributed in the OrientalRegion.•12~