MECOMETOPUS. 55 
MECOMETOPUS. 
Mecometopus, Thomson, Class. Long. p. 222; Chevr. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1861, p. 387, et 1862, p. 58. 
Neoclytus (partim), Lacord. Gen. Col. ix. p. 77. 
Clytus, Lap. & Gory, White. 
Lacordaire did not admit this genus as distinct from Neoclytus. It seems, however, 
quite as well defined as most of the other genera of the Clytini group adopted by him 
and other authors. To the slender form of the hind legs, especially the femora, and 
the elongated and subvertical forehead, are added a distinct style of coloration and 
markings, and a more circumscribed and compact area of distribution. ‘The genus is 
peculiar to Tropical America, and contains about twenty known species. Only one is 
at present known from so far north as Mexico; and none have been recorded from 
beyond the southern limits of Brazil. 
1. Mecometopus jansoni. (Tab. V. fig. 14.) 
Mecometopus Jansoni, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 399. 
Hab. Nicaraceva, Chontales (Belt, Janson). 
One of Belt’s examples forms a variety in which the bright yellow spots of the 
elytra are much more extended than in the type, reducing the width of the black 
ground-colour. The middle sutural spot is prolonged and angular behind as in front, 
i. e. rhomboidal in shape instead of triangular. 
The species, according to the description, seems to be closely allied to the Colombian 
Mecometopus amaryllis (Chevr.), which differs in the more slender antenne and the 
red colour of the anterior legs. : 
2. Mecometopus ssopus. 
‘Clytus (Tillomorpha) esopus, Chevr. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1860, p. 502, t. 9. £127. 
Neoclytus esopus, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 1877. 
Hab. Mexico, Cordova (Sailé!); Nicaraeva, Chontales (Belt?). 
A species remarkable for the ridge-like elevations of the base of the elytra (two on 
each side) and the compressed and dilated hind tibiz. The head is precisely that of a 
typical Mecometopus ; and there are no grounds whatever for referring the species to 
the genus Tillomorpha, as Chevrolat has done. Mecometopus polygenus has also 
strongly dilated and compressed hind tibie ; but they are shorter, and the dilatation is 
gradual and progressive from base to apex; in V/. @sopus it is greatest in the middle, 
and the outer edge of the tibia forms a flexuous line. 
The species is closely allied to the common Mecometopus olivaceus, Lap. & Gory, of 
South Brazil. In colour and markings they are nearly alike; and the Brazilian species 
even shows traces of the basal ridges of the elytra. 
