Oedichirus laoticus

D e s c r i p t i o n: length: 12 mm; length of fore-body: 5; length of head: 1.35; breadth of head: 1.82; length of pronotum: 1.5; breadth of pronotum: 1.2; length of ely- tron: 2; breadth of elytra: 1.78. Body black, mouthparts, antennae and legs entirely testaceous. Body shiny, dorsal surfaces of fore-body devoid of microsculpture; mcrosculpture of abdominal tergites very strong on anterior rows of keels and interstices, on rest of tergites III-VI consisting of faint transverse microstriae, much more evident on tergite VII where it consists of dense micro-punctures. Pubescence fairly long, sparse, semierect. Habitus: Fig. 46 h. Post-ocular carina of head very salient, forming a dentiform angle behind eyes; disc entirely covered with irregular umbilicate punctures, the interstices almost everywhere wider than diameter of punctures. Pronotum strongly elongate, the sides convergent in straight lines to base; lateral margins bordered in anterior 1 / 3 rd; puncturation comparable to that of head on entire disc, not forming discernible series. Elytra ample, long, fairly convex, the humeral angles prominent, the sides a little dilated posteriad from humeral angles; disc entirely, fairly homogenously punctate, the punctures about as large as those of pronotum but denser. Puncturation of abdominal tergites disposed randomly, the punctures about equal in size and density to those of elytra. Male sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII: Fig. 46 s 8; aedoeagus: Figs 46 arl, all, the processes of the ventral plate very characteristic, both parameres moderately long and slender, of approximately equal length. In external appearance, including colour and sculpture, O. laoticus nov. sp. closely resembles the possibly sympatric O. lannaensis nov. sp. but is considerably larger; the male sexual characters of the two species are very different (cf. Figs 45 s 8, arl). Key 3.