MYCOTRETUS. 47 



granulated, small in size, and little prominent ; by the mentum being pentagonal, or 

 at least roughly speaking so, and not trigonal ; and by the apical joint of the maxillary 

 palpi being wide, and round on its base, with a long truncate sensitive edge (thus 

 much as in Triplax). Superficially the species are less elongate than those oflschyrus, 

 and we miss the undulate and often oblique posterior ely tral fascia which is so charac- 

 teristic of Ischyrus ; on the average they are small in size, oblong, and very varied in 

 colour and pattern. 



Mycotretus is one of the largest and most widely spread of the genera of Erotylidae, but 

 is confined to the American continent. Lacordaire enumerated ninety species, Crotch's 

 revision brought up the number to 134, the Munich ' Catalogue ' (1876) records 143. 



1. Mycotretus ornatus. (Tab. III. fig. 8.) 



Erotylus ornatus, Duponch. Monogr. Erotyl. p. 20, t. 2. fig. 31 \ 



Mycotretus ornatus, Dej. Cat. 3rd ed. p. 452 2 ; Lac. Monogr. Erotyl. p. 137 3 . 



Mycotretus pectoralis, Dej. Cat. 3rd ed. p. 452 \ 



Mycotretus terminalis, Lac. Monogr. Erotyl. p. 134 5 . 



Mycotretus melanostictus, Lac. 1. c. p. 139 6 . 



Mycotretus maculosus, Lac. 1. c. p. 140 7 . 



Mycotretus godartii, Lac. 1. c. p. 146 8 . 



Mycotretus posticus, Lac. 1. c. p. 147 9 . 



Hob. Guatemala, Cerro Zunil (Champion) ; Panama, Bugaba, Volcan de Chiriqui 

 (Champion). — Colombia 6 8 9 ; Beazil 1 2 4 , Rio Janeiro 3 5 7 . 



This is one of the most variable species of the Erotylidae, hence descriptions founded 

 upon colour alone are of little value. The marks on the thorax are tolerably constant, 

 viz. four spots transversely placed, a tridentate basal, and a broad, apical marginal mark 

 never produced to the front angles. The spot on the head is (in the type) connected 

 with the epistome by a line, but this seems unusual. In the type, and in our Cerro 

 Zunil examples, the elytra are very much suffused with black, leaving towards the 

 shoulders and scutellum a few fulvous marks. In the Cerro Zunil specimens the legs 

 are yellow, but in those from the State of Panama they are black, as in the type. 

 None of the forms appear to be constant as regards the colour of the legs, nor is the 

 colour of the underside more so. The structural characters of the group, of which this 

 species may be taken as the type, are as follows : — The mentum is pentagonal; the 

 maxillary palpi have the terminal joint widely expanded, but not especially so; the 

 prosternum is slightly compressed at the middle of its front margin ; a fine raised line 

 or plica is found on each side of the intercoxal process of the basal segment of the 

 abdomen ; the metasternum, including its episterna, is punctured, but sparingly, and 

 also bears a fine plicate line diverging from the middle coxse ; the tibiae are only 

 moderately dilated towards the apex. 



The species cited above as synonymous present absolutely no structural difference, 



