454 SERRICOENIA. 



4. Melanotus rugulipennis. 



J . Elongate, shining, pitchy-black, the antennae and legs ferruginous ; above and beneath rather sparsely 

 clothed with decumbent yellowish-cinereous hairs. Head closely, coarsely umbilicate-punctate, the frontal 

 carina prominent ; antennas short, extending slightly beyond the hind angles of the prothorax, ciliate 

 on their inner edge, the third joint a little longer than the second. Prothorax broader than long, sub- 

 parallel behind, gradually and arcuately narrowing from the basal third to the apex; the hind angles 

 moderately long, not divergent, unicarinate, the carina short ; the basal sulci short ; the surface somewhat 

 thickly, finely punctate, the punctuation becoming coarser and more crowded towards the sides and apex, 

 the interspaces with a few widely scattered very minute punctures, obsoletely canaliculate behind. Elytra 

 three times the length of the prothorax, gradually narrowing from about the basal third, flattened on the 

 disc ; rather deeply punctate-striate, the interstices feebly convex and transversely rugulose, each with 

 two irregular rows of fine punctures. Beneath somewhat thickly punctured, the pro- and metasternum 

 smoother in the middle, the punctures oblong in shape on the propleurse and on the lateral portions of 

 the body, the apex of the fifth ventral segment more densely punctate ; mesosternum depressed. 

 Length 10, breadth 2| millim. 



Bab. Mexico, Pinos Altos in Chihuahua (Buchan- Hepburn). 



One male example. This insect resembles the European M. rujipes, but differs from 

 it in its much smaller size, shorter antennae, the third joint of which is very little longer 

 than the second, less coarsely punctured thorax, &c. It is allied to the North- 

 American M. communis (Gyll.) and M. exuberans, Lee, but has a more finely punctured 

 thorax, &c. 



5. Melanotus mexicanus. 



Moderately elongate, shining, piceous or fusco-castaneous, the humeri or the base of the elytra indeterminately 

 paler, the antennae and legs ferruginous ; above and beneath rather sparsely clothed with decumbent 

 yellowish-cinereous hairs. Head closely, coarsely umbilicate-punctate, the punctures shallow ; antennas 

 moderately elongate and rather slender in the male, shorter and stouter in the female, the third joint 

 nearly twice as long as the second. Prothorax a little broader than long, with the sides rounded and 

 converging from the middle forwards, somewhat oblique towards the apex in the male, and feebly sinuate 

 behind ; the hind angles moderately long, not or very slightly divergent, sharply, longitudinally unicari- 

 nate, the carina short ; the basal sulci short ; the surface finely or moderately coarsely, somewhat thickly 

 punctate, the punctuation becoming closer, coarser, and umbilicate towards the sides and near the apex, 

 feebly canaliculate behind. Elytra three times the length of the prothorax, gradually narrowing from 

 about the basal third, flattened on the disc ; finely or moderately coarsely punctate-striate, the interstices 

 flat or feebly convex, each with two irregular rows of fine scattered punctures. Beneath thickly, rather 

 coarsely punctate, the punctures oblong in shape on the propleurae and on the lateral portions of the body, 

 the fifth ventral segment coarsely punctured and with the punctures longitudinally confluent ; meso- 

 sternum depressed. » 



Length 9|-11|, breadth 2|-3§ millim. ( tf $ .) 



Hab. Mexico, Teapa in Tabasco and Yucatan [coll. Janson). 



A male from Teapa and a female from Yucatan. This species is perhaps nearest 

 allied to M. cribulosus, Lee, from Nebraska, which has the fifth ventral segment 

 similarly sculptured, but differs from that insect in having two (instead of three) 

 irregular rows of punctures on each of the elytra! interstices. The antennas are more 

 slender than usual in the male ; they are not ciliate on their inner edge, but this may 

 be due to abrasion. 



