WEST INDIAN MELOIDAE — SELANDER AND BOUSEMAN 207 



Remarks: The description given above applies to the West Indian 

 material listed as well as to six specimens from the United States 

 and two from the island of Trinidad (Fry collection, British Museum). 

 Besides the original description, references to T. quadrimaculata in 

 the United States include LeConte's (1853) redescription and the 

 records of Blatchley, Brimley, and Loding cited below under "habits." 



There is noticeable variation in T. quadrimaculata in several charac- 

 ters, but apparentl}^ only the shape of the male sixth abdominal 

 sternum varies geographically. 



Variation in color is hmited largely to the relatively minor point of 

 whether the apical black spots of elytra actually attain the sutural 

 margins and to the extent of black markings on the under surface of 

 the body. One of the males from the United States is exceptional in 

 that only the sixth abdominal sternum (rather than the fifth and sixth 

 sterna) is black. This specimen also has the black thoracic marking 

 reduced to a suffusion partially covering the pleurites on each side. 



Variation in size (as expressed b}^ the length of the elytra) and in 

 the proportions of the pronotum and elytra is indicated in tables 2 



Figures 1-3. — 1, 



Tetraonyx quadrimaculata, right elytron (Montserrat); 2, T. cruciata, 

 same; 3, T. maestra, same (holotype). 



