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Notices of new or little known Cetoxiidae ; by Oliver E.

J anson, F.E.S. No. 10.

MELINESTHES.

Kraatz, Ent. Monatsbl. 12, p. 24 (1880).

The presence of a long dense fringe on the inner side of thefour posterior tibiae of the male is given by Kraatz as one ofthe distinctions between this genus and Genyodonta, but it is nota character that can be relied upon, as I find these hairs arevary liable to be more or less worn off in old specimens, more-over, the species which I have named calvipes has not anyindication whatever of hairs. Nor are the curved mesosternalprocess, untoothed male and bi-dentate % female tibiae genericcharacters, as exilis has a short straight mesosternal process,hamula has a distinct tooth near the apex of the anterior tibiaein the male, and the females of flavipennis, hamula and elongatahave only one lateral tooth on the anterior tibiae, umbonata alone,so far as I am aware, having them bi-dentate.

M. umbonata, G. P.

This common species varies considerably in size and coloration,the variety with the black thoracic patch divided has been namedvitticollis by Kraatz, and two males in my own collection fromNatal of a much more aberrant variety, for which I propose thename of atricollis, differ in having the head, thorax and legsentirely black, thus resembling the female of flavipennis ingeneral aspect.

M. elongata , Bates.

This species has now been received in considerable numbers,the black thoracic jiatch is liable to much variation as in

* Dr. Kraatz has fallen into a common but obvious error, which Iused frequently to commit myself, in describing the anterior tibiae ofthe male, as “ inermes ” and those of the female as “ tridentatae .,”whereas the female has only two teeth, which are not present in themale, the third tooth being merely the produced apex of the tibia,which is equally pronounced in the two sexes.