52 jSlr. D. Sharp's; Contrihutiuns to the 



about as long as broad ; the terminal joint not broader 

 than the lOth, pointed, al)ont as long as the tv.o preceding 

 ones together. The head and thorax are of a i)itchy or u 

 pitchy-red colour, covered, as are also the elytra, with short, 

 stout, erect seta;. Thorax a little broader than the elytra, 

 more than twice as broad as long, much narrower in iront 

 than behind, its middle part a little elevated, the sides de- 

 Hexed, the middle of the base a little produced in front of the 

 scutellum, the posterior angles acute and projecting back- 

 Avards. The elytra are rather lighter in colour than the 

 thorax, and about one-third longer; they are narrower 

 at the apex and the base ; under the microscope the 

 sculptiu-e of the thorax and elytra is seen to consist of 

 small round smooth spots, between which the surface is 

 coriaceous. Tlie abdomen is much narrower than the 

 thorax ; it is nearly impiuictate, and very finely pubescent, 

 but the basal segments are also furnished Avith seta3 finer 

 than those of the thorax and elytra : it is very convex 

 above and below, and the first visible segment is much 

 narroAved all round fi-om its apex to its base. 



Ega ; a single individual, Avhich I suspect to be a male. 



Myrmedoxia. 



Of this Avidely distributed genus, nine or ten species 

 have been already described Irom tro])ical America : to 

 this number I now^ add other six species. Of these six 

 species, the first five are pretty closely allied to one 

 another, while the sixth (viz., JSI. nitiduhi) is very dis- 

 tinct. Key has recently divided the genus jSli/nnedonia 

 into a number of different genera, distributed among two 

 distinct branches, ]\ft/nnc(f(ni/afe.s', and 3fi/niii'ciates. If 

 this arrangement were adopted, then Af. srahripennis, ]\f. 

 pollens, M. Butesi, 31. spinifer, and M. fortunata, would 

 belong to the branch 3Ii/rmcdoniates, and to Key's genus 

 Zi/ras, or more ]n-obably to a distiiu't new genus to be 

 ])laced at the head of the branch : while M. nltidtila 

 would have to form a distinct branch intermediate be- 

 tween the ]\fi/rtiiedoniates and 3Ii/riucciatfs. 1 do not, 

 however, ad()i)t this classification; for while I thoroughly 

 aj)preciate the great aildition ^1. Key's labours have nuide 

 to our knowledge, I am quite convinced that the attempt 

 to found new and complicated classifications on the insects 

 of a single covmtry must ])rove abortive ; and jn'obably 

 worse than useless when a])plied to the insects of the 



