StaphylinidcB of the Amazon Valley. 53 



world at large. AVitliout therefore adopting Rey's names, 

 I prefer to point out that the first five species here de- 

 scribed are allied to our Myrmedonia Haivorthi, but are 

 remarkable by the great development of the spurs at the 

 extremities of the tibire. M. nitididn, on the other hand, 

 is very distinct on account of the basal joint of the inter- 

 mediate tarsus, which is only as long as the 2nd joint, 

 Avhile the basal joint of the hind tarsus is only a little 

 longer than the folloAving one ; and the spurs at the 

 extremity of the tibias are much less developed. It is only 

 when our knowledo-e of these insects is much more ad- 

 vanced than it is at present, that we shall be able to ponit 

 out with something like certainty what we may hope Avill 

 prove stable generic characters. 



1. Myrmedonia scabripennis, n. sp. Piceo-nigra, niti- 

 dula, antennarum basi, pedibusque pallidis, femoribus sub- 

 tus piceis ; prothorace subquadrato, inrequali, fortiter 

 punctato ; elytris dense scabrosis, opacis ; abdomine supra 

 concavo, hevigato, subtus crebre subtiliter punctulato. 

 Long. 4;^ lin. 



Mas : abdomine segmento secundo dorsali spinis elon- 

 gatis tribus armato ; seg. 6" utrinque obsolete longitudi- 

 naliter plicate ; 7" asperato, medio obtuse angulatim 

 elevato. 



Fem. latet. 



Antennte longer than the head and thorax ; slender, 

 scarcely thickened towards the apex, pitchy, paler at the 

 base ; 3rd joint elongate, quite twice as long as the 2nd ; 

 4th shorter than 3rd, but considerably longer than the 

 5th ; 10th about as long as broad ; 11th pointed, twice as 

 long as the 10th. Head black, shining, strongly punc- 

 tured, Avith a narrow smooth space in the middle. Thorax 

 about as long as broad, scarcely narrowed behind, the 

 base rounded, the hind angles very obtuse, the front ones 

 deflexed and rounded ; very strongly and closely, but not 

 deeply, punctured, Avith a transverse impression in front of 

 the scutellum, and two irregular, not very distinct, smooth 

 spaces on each side near the front (placed one behind the 

 other); on each side it is broadly impressed at the sides 

 behind. The elytra are about as long as the thorax, 

 and nearly twice as broad ; more than twice as broad as 

 the head ; black, not shining, densely scabrous. Hind 

 body pitchy, shining, narrowed behind ; the margins large, 

 and much turned upwards; impunctate, and shining above; 



