456 Coleopterological Notices, VI. 



transverse emargination of the prothorax ; anteniial foveje extremely remotely 

 seijaratecl, very near the eyes and represented from above by small emargiua- 

 tions, the eyes in contact with the advanced apical angles of the prothorax ; 

 antennte not as long as the width of the head. Prothorax short and strongly 

 transverse, abont three times as wide as long, the sides strongly convergent 

 and feebly arcnate from the base, the advanced apical angles rounded ; basal 

 angles slightly more than right and not distinctly rounded ; Imse broadly 

 arcuate. Elytra about as long as wide, evenlv oval, the sides continuous in 

 curvature with those of the prothorax, the siiture about three times as long as 

 the latter and margined Avith a iine feeble line which becomes obsolete near 

 the base. Hind wings well developed. Length 1.0 mm. ; width 0.6 mm. 



Florida (Dry Tortugas). Mr. H. P. Wickham. 



It is probable that this species will prove to be widely distrib- 

 uted through the West Indies, and by no means confined to the 

 small sand}' islet near Key West. I have before me a single 

 rather ill-conditioned specimen. 



MELYRID.E. 



After careful study of the considerable material in ni}' cabinet, 

 I can see no cause to doubt the soundness of Motschulsky's 

 opinion (Bull. Mosc, 1859, p. 388) that the melyrides should con- 

 stitute a family distinct from the Malachiidffi; their entire habitus 

 is different, and the most important of the special peculiarities of 

 the Malachiidte, viz., the extensible vesicles, is completel}' un- 

 known among them ; their integuments, furthermore, are hard and 

 thick, and resemble those of the Clerida; rather than the Mala- 

 chiidre. The Melyridae constitute a moderately large famil}^ 

 which is so homogeneous that it is difficult to find many valid 

 characters to define even the genera, and the groups higher than 

 genera are wevy few in number. The species are exceedingl}^ 

 abundant west of the 100th meridian, and increase in number and 

 variety to the westward, following the same law as the Hetero- 

 mera, except that they are relatively more abundant perhaps in 

 the true Pacific coast fauna. The family is essentially subarctic, 

 and is very poorly represented south of our Mexican boundary. 



It is not necessary to allude in the present preliminary essay to 

 the general structural details of the family, as these are given 

 with sufficient fullness in many s^'stematic w^orks, and also bo- 

 cause all those structures which, by reason of diversification ap- 

 parently afford efficient means of grouping the species, are men- 



I 



