NO. :i»41. THE INSECT FAMILY DELPHACIDAE— CRAWFORD. 611 



brown; frons brown between carinse, latter usually yellowish, some- 

 times light brown. Body medium to small. 



Head narrow; vertex very nan-ow, almost rectangular, carinse not 

 very prominent at apex of head; frons narrowed above, about one- 

 third broader below than above; median carina forked usually below 

 apex of head, sometimes at apex. Antennse not as long as frons, I 

 nearly half as long as II; eyes relatively large. Lateral carinse of 

 pronotum percurrent almost to hind margin or more or less curved 

 out behind eyes and not reaching margin. Legs slender, rather short; 

 hind tibia3 a little longer than femora; calcar delicate, more than half 

 as long as basal tarsus. Elytra slender, brown apically. Male 

 pygofers somewhat similar to M. constridus; genital styles distinctly 

 different in shape, with two teeth on inner margin, stout, subcultrate. 



Described from numerous males and females from many parts of 

 Mexico (Crawford, Baker), Nicaragua (Baker), and Habana, Cuba 

 (Baker). The Nicaragua specimens are somewhat lighter than the 

 Mexican forms, but structurally are identical, except that the lateral 

 pronotal carinsB are deflexed outward before reaching the hind margin, 

 while in the Mexican forms they are to a less extent. There is more 

 or less variation, too, in the point of furcation of the median frontal 

 carina. Both of these latter facts have led to considerable confusion 

 in classif3dng the specimens. Two of the Nicaragua specimens bore 

 the name of 31. alholineosa; the other Nicaragua specimens had been 

 determined as a species of Dicranotropis, while the Mexican specimens 

 were named Megamelus sp. This is one of the many illustrations of 

 the superficiality of the former system of classification. 



MEGAMELUS METZARIA, new species. 



Length of body, 2.8 mm.; width of vertex, 0.19; width of frons, 

 0.23; antennae, I 0.18, II 0.34. General color dark brown or black; 

 vertex, frons, and pronotum reddish brown; clypeus black, margined 

 with white above; forecoxse black; antennae and legs brown. Body 

 medium to rather large. 



Vertex rather rectangular, distinctly longer than broad, with cari- 

 nse not very distinct at apex, but not evanescent; frons long, narrow, 

 diverging to apex ; median carina forked slightly below apex of head ; 

 clypeus slender; antennae about as long as frons, I half as long as II; 

 eyes large. Thorax moderately broad. Legs rather short; hind 

 tibiae longer than femora; calcar not large. Elytra long, hyaline, 

 transparent, with a brown spot at apex of clavus. Male pygofers 

 broad, of typical shape, with ventral fossae deep, and processes between 

 fossae and genital styles long, rather slender, and rounded at apex; 

 genital styles short, styliform, inconspicuous, as in Dicranotropis 

 delicatus. 



