462 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Dec., 'l6 



From X. similis Sm. it is known by the absence of red hair on 

 first abdominal segment. 



Xylocopa frontalis (Olivier.) var. morio (Fabr.). "Guyane, Mn- 

 roni." $ $. (Queensl. Mus. i, 2). The female has the wings black, 

 shining green. The morio form is perhaps a distinct species. A'. frn- 

 talis proper, from Paraguay, has the wings shining purple. 



Mesotrichia ceramensis sp. n. 



$ . Length about 20 mm., anterior wing 18 mm. ; robust, densely 

 covered with short pale pubescence, which is whitish-ochreous (hoary) 

 on head, thorax and first abdominal segment, warm ochreous on the 

 rest of abdomen ; eyes prominent ; small spot at base of mandibles, 

 large spots at extreme sides of clypeus (extended mesad more or less 

 to form a submarginal band), and stripe down middle of clypeus, dull 

 yellow; scape in front (except apically), and flagellum beneath (except 

 at base) ferruginous; front, vertex and sides of face with some admix- 

 ture of dark hair; no black hair at sides of abdomen; last ventral seg- 

 ment of abdomen with a median keel ; femora with very scant hair, 

 largely black; front and middle tibiae with pale hair, much like that of 

 thorax ; hind tibiae with ochreous hair on outer side, in the midst of 

 which is a bright rufous band, but beneath the hair of these tibise 

 is partly black ; anterior and middle tarsi with long hair, deep fox-red 

 in front, paler behind ; hind tarsi with rufous hair on outer side and 

 black on inner; lower border of hind femora with a shallow broad me- 

 dian excavation ; hind tibiae with a large apical tubercle on inner side ; 

 wings yellowish-brown, first transverso-cubital nervure nearly obsolete. 



Hab. East Ceram, 1913 (H. Elgncr}. Queensland Mu- 

 seum, 15. A female of Mesotrichia unicolor (Xylocopa uni- 

 color) comes with the same data (Queensl. Mus. 14), and T 

 might have supposed the new form to be its male, but for the 

 fact that the male of M. unicolor (already recorded from 

 Ceram by Friese) is known and has a yellow clypeus. M. ccra- 

 nicnsis is very close to Xylocopa or Mesotrichia provida 

 (Smith), judging by Smith's description, but Bingham has ex- 

 amined males of provida in the British Museum, and cannot 

 separate them from M. bryorum (L.). Our insect is quite 

 distinct from bryorum, and is especially to be known by the 

 pallid (not at all greenish) hair of the head and thorax. 



Mesotrichia torrida Westwood. N. Djole, Gabon, $. (Queensl. 

 Mus. 3.) 



Mesotrichia calens malagassa (Saussurc). Miarinarivo, Madagas- 

 car, 9. (Queensl. Mus. 10.). Described by Saussurc in 1891 as a va- 

 riety of Xylocopa olivacea. 



