MELOIDAE. 421 



one is shorter, and connate with the upper ; tlie tarsi are pubes- 

 cent beneath. 



Our genera may be thus arranged : — 



Penultimate joint of tarsi bilobed. Tetraonyx. 



Penultimate joint of tarsi cylindrical ; 



Lower portion of claws equal to the upper, and separate ; 

 Anterior thighs with a sericeous spot (antennaj tilitbrm) ; 

 2d joint of antennre equal to half the 3d ; elytra costate. 



Pleuropompha. 

 2d joint of antenmie very short ; elytra even ; 



Mandibles prolonged, meeting beyond the labrum. 



Gnathospasta. 

 Mandibles short. Epicauta. 



Anterior thighs without a sericeous hairy spot; 



Antennre filiform, outer joints cylindrical. Pyrota, 



Antenuc'e thicker externally, outer joints oval or rounded ; 



Labrum deeply emarginate. Pomphopcea. 



Labrum slightly emarginate. Cantharis. 



Lower portion of claws shorter than the upi)er, connate ; 



Labrum not emarginate ; body pubescent. Calospasta. 



Labrum emarginate ; body glabrous. Tegrodera. 



The form of the spurs of the hind tibia3 varies greatly in nearly 

 all the genera. Cantharis and Epicauta are found on both sides 

 of the continent; Pomphopcea and Tetraonyx are confined to the 

 Atlantic States. Calospasta contains five species, and Tegrodera 

 but one large and beautiful species, T. erosa Lee, all from Cali- 

 fornia. Pleuropompha is founded upon Li/lta cosiata Lee, from 

 New Mexico. 



There is much difference between the various species of Can- 

 tharis in the form of the outer joints of the antenna, which are 

 quite transverse in some and elongate in others ; the entirely 

 cylindrical shape is never assumed. 



The sexual characters are remarkable in some of the species; 

 thus, in the male of Ganth. Nuttalli, the trochanters of the hind 

 legs are armed with a spine ; in the male of Pijroki, mylahrina 

 and insulata the last joint of the maxillary palpi is ovate, broadly 

 transver.se, and flattened, with the under surface concave and 

 spongy. The antennic of the male of Plcuro])(>m])Jia coi<fata Lee. 

 are longer than those of the female, and the difference is caused 

 l)y the elongation of the third, fourth, and fifth joints, which thus 

 become more than twice as long as any of the following ones. 



