600 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [DeC, 



ON THE MELOID^ OF ANGOLA. 

 BY F. CREIGHTON WELLMAN, M.D. 



While determining a collection of Angolan specimens of Coleoptera of 

 the family Meloidse recently collected by myself, I have had occasion 

 to go somewhat thoroughly into the literature of the subject and also 

 to compare the material in the British Museum, the Hope Department of 

 Oxford University, the Konigliches and the National jMuseums in Berlin, 

 the National Museum at Washington, and several private collections; 

 so it seems that the results, together with my collecting notes, may 

 be of sufficient interest to publish along with the descriptions of the 

 new forms that have come to light. 



Our present knowledge of the Meloidse of Angola, it may be said, is 

 due principally to three collections, viz., the Schonlein-Grossbendtner 

 collection described by Erichson, the Welwitsch collection, the Meloid 

 material of which was described by Marseul, and the collection made 

 by von Hohmeyer and Pogge and described by Harold. My own 

 collection — described in the present paper — ^is now added. Besides 

 these there are a few single descriptions l^}^ various authors, which will 

 be found in their places in the present list. It is possible that some 

 of the more recent records have escaped my attention. Of the four 

 collections named above, by far the most complete is that of Welwitsch, 

 which, like all the collections of this gifted naturalist, is of the highest 

 scientific value. 



I have recently, in collaboration with Dr. Walther Horn of Berlin, 

 published a memoir containing a short description of the region under 

 consideration and some account of its zoogeographical features and 

 shall content myself with referring to that paper,^ only observing here 

 that with the exception of two new species, viz., Mylabris {Actenodia) 

 deserticola Wellman (from the littoral region) and Mylabris chisarn- 

 bensis Wellman (from the high inland plateau), all the Angolan Meloidse 

 collected by me are from the mountain slopes intermediate between 

 the interior alpine region and the low-lying coastlands. 



Some of the habits of the beetles are most interesting. I shall not 



1 On the Cicindelinse of Angola, by F. Creighton Wellman, M.D., F.E.S., and 

 Walther Horn, M.D., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., November, 1908, pp. 504-512. 



