NOTOCYPHUS. 213 



as long as the head, subquadrate, rounded in front at the sides ; the apex bluntly- 

 angled ; scutellum narrowed towards the apex ; the median segment nearly as long as 

 the mesothorax, flattish above, the apex rounded. Abdomen shorter than the thorax ; 

 sessile, the apex acute, shining, beneath sparsely haired. Legs elongate, stout, the 

 base of the fore tarsi acutely incised ; the tibiae with a few minute spines ; the long 

 spur of the hind tibiae not reaching the middle of the metatarsus ; the claws stout, 

 bifid ; the tarsi sparsely spined. Head and thorax opaque, alutaceous, the abdomen 

 shining. 



Very distinct from the preceding species, N, plagiatus having blood-red colour on 

 the thorax, and N. albopictus white. 



4. Notocyphns violaceipennis. (Tab. XII. fig. l.) 



Niger ; alis violaceis. 5 . 

 Long. 12 millim. 



Hdb. Mexico, Atoyac in Vera Cruz (E. H. Smith). 



Head narrower than the thorax, transverse behind, very finely punctured, the front 

 distinctly channelled ; eyes very slightly converging beneath ; the ocelli in a triangle, 

 the hinder ones separated from the eyes by about the same distance they are from each 

 other ; the clypeus projecting, the apex rounded ; the labrum longer than the clypeus, 

 narrowed gradually towards the apex, which is rounded. Antennae stout, longish ; the 

 third joint a little longer than the fourth. The prothorax somewhat shorter than the 

 head, the apex arcuate, the base abrupt. The scutellum narrowed towards the apex. 

 The median segment elongate, the top flat ; the apex sharply oblique, broadly incised, 

 acutely in the middle; the sides projecting into two stout teeth. Abdomen hardly so 

 long as the head and thorax united, the apex, viewed laterally, oblique and bearing a 

 few black hairs. Legs long ; the tibiae without spines ; the tarsi ciliated beneath and 

 with some short spines ; the long spur of the hind tibiae reaching to the middle of the 

 metatarsus ; the claws bifid. Wings shorter than the body ; the third cubital cellule 

 at the top somewhat shorter than the distance bounded by the second recurrent and 

 the second transverse cubital nervures ; the recurrent nervures are received in the 

 middle of the cellules, the second sharply elbowed. The palpi are testaceous. 



Similar to N. apicalis, but much larger, has the apex of the abdomen black, and 

 otherwise easily known by the sharply incised apex of the median segment. N. tyran- 

 nicus, from Brazil, closely resembles N. violaceipennis ; but it has the median segment 

 differently formed, and the labrum truncated at the apex. 



\/5. Notocyphns chiriquensis. 



Niger, abdomine albo-macnlato ; alis fuliginosis. $ • 

 Long. 15 millim. 



Hob. Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui 3000 to 4000 feet {Champion). K 



