MESPALERUS.—SCIOPORUS. 561 
Hab. GuateMata, Cerro Zunil (Champion). 
Antenne small and rather slender; eyes rather prominent ; sides of the head very 
slightly narrowed behind. Thorax not so long as broad, distinctly narrowed behind, 
transversely convex, with a coarse subobsolete punctuation, and a slender smooth line 
along the middle canaliculate at the base. 
This insect is much smaller than W/. preustus and less depressed, and the teeth 
of the mandibles are more feeble. It is unique. 
4. Mespalerus piesticulus. 
Angustior, sat depressus, nitidus, ferrugineus; capite quadrato, cumque prothorace crebrius sat fortiter 
punctato, hoc medio tenuiter obsolete canaliculato ; elytris quam prothorax paullo longioribus, crebrius sat 
fortiter punctatis. 
Long. 37 millim. 
Hab. Guatemata, San Juan in Vera Paz (Champion). 
The small size, pallid colour, and rather less depressed form are sufficient to distin- 
guish this species from the rest of the group; it also has comparatively shorter and 
more coarsely punctate wing-cases, and the head is not so largely developed, and has 
rather less dense and coarse punctuation. Unique. 
SCIOPORUS. 
Corpus minus depressum. Mandibule tridentate, dentibus seepe inequalibus. Labrum sat elongatum, medio 
excisum, utrinque muticum. Tarsi anteriores leviter dilatati; posteriores modice elongati, articulo basali 
quam secundus bene longiore. 
This little group of species comes close to the European Medon, but I think it would 
be incorrect to treat them as one. Scioporus has a broader neck and shorter prothorax ; 
the mandibles appear to be invariably tridentate ; the membrane intervening between 
the labrum and head is larger, and the labrum itself is apparently denticulate in the 
middle. The type is 8. drunneus; I mention this as the paucity of examples and the 
difficulty of manipulating them has made my examination less complete than it should 
be. Lithocharis crassula, Sharp, belongs to the genus, and is the only one I am 
acquainted with in addition to those here characterized, though some of the Californian 
forms approach the genus very closely. 
1. Scioporus brunneus. 
Minus depressus, brunneo-ferrugineus, sat nitidus, pedibus testaceis; capite prothoraceque crebrius fortiter 
punctatis, hoc medio linea angusta levigata. 
Long. 43 millim. 
Hab. Guatemaua, near the city (Champion); Nicaragua, Chontales (Janson), 
Granada, Chinandega (Sal/é). 
Head rather broad, quadrate ; eyes large and prominent, occupying one half the 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Coleopt., Vol. I. Pt. 2, July 1886. 4CC 
