136 MEMOIRS ON THE COLEOPTERA 



obtuse, a little before the middle and thence feebly converging and straight 

 to both apical and basal angles, unimpressed; elytra small, subquadrate, 

 barely as wide as the prothorax, the suture a third longer; abdomen par- 

 allel, only just visibly narrower than the elytra, the fifth tergite distinctly 

 longer than the fourth. Length 2.4 mm.; width 0.58 mm. Manitoba 

 (Aweme), Criddle. 



Though evidently allied to the preceding and from the same 

 locality, I am unable to decide upon any true subspecific relation- 

 ship between the two forms; the smaller and more transverse head, 

 much smaller and shorter third antennal joint, shorter prothorax, 

 with the sides subprominent before the middle and the smaller, 

 subquadrate elytra, impart so different a facies, that in my opinion 

 it cannot be anything less than a distinct species. 



The following species is peculiar in its fusiform outline and prob- 

 ably cannot be retained in Metaxya, although the middle coxse are 

 closely contiguous and the metasternum transverse behind them: 



Metaxya varula n. sp. Rather stout, moderately convex, black through- 

 out, the elytra only just visibly picescent, the legs rather pale flavo- 

 piceous; lustre feebly shining, the surface finely, closely, subasperulately 

 punctate, the abdomen rather more strongly and asperately, somewhat 

 closely so, more sparsely toward tip and with the micro-reticulation 

 extremely fine and dense in transverse wavy lines; pubescence short and 

 palish; head very small, less than three-fifths as wide as the prothorax, 

 nearly as long as wide, parallel and feebly arcuate at the sides, the eyes 

 but very slightly prominent and not more so than the tempora, at much 

 more than their own length from the base; front evenly convex, the carina? 

 fine but entire; antennae black, notably long, gradually and only very 

 slightly incrassate, moderately thick, the second and third joints very 

 long, subequal, the fourth fully one-half longer than wide, the tenth fully 

 as long as wide, the last slender, elongate-oval, as long as the two pre- 

 ceding; prothorax large, suborbicular, a third wider than long, the apex 

 much narrower than the base, the sides evenly and strongly rounded 

 from base to apex, the basal angles obtuse and rounded; surface with a 

 small obsolescent rounded ante-scutellar impression; elytra still larger, 

 moderately transverse, with very feebly diverging sides, at base a fifth 

 or sixth wider, the suture about a fourth longer, than the prothorax; 

 abdomen parallel, with straight sides, distinctly narrower than the elytra, 

 the tergites short, the fifth longer than the fourth. Length 2.8 mm.; 

 width 0.8 mm. Manitoba (Aweme), Criddle. 



Remarkably different from any other development of the Me- 

 taxya group known to me. Sexual characters are not apparent in 

 the single type at hand. 



The following species is appended provisionally: 



