MELOIDAE. 271 



a slender, flexible process, sometimes nearly as long as tbe body ; 

 the maxillary palpi are not dilated, and tbe last joint is longer 

 than the preceding ; the claws of the tarsi are cleft to the base, 

 the upper portion is strongly pectinate, the lower one equal in 

 length, acute, and generally more slender than the upper ; the 

 tarsi are clothed with stiff hairs beneath. 



The serrature of the upper part of the claws is not sufficient 

 by itself to separate this from the next sub-tribe, since in it there 

 are certain foreign genera, scarcely to be distinguished in appear- 

 ance from Lytta, in which the upper part of the claws is quite 

 distinctly serrate ; but in my opinion the marked difference in 

 appearance produced by the triangular head, which is usually 

 applied more closely than in Lytta to the square prothorax and 

 especially the more prominent and acute mandibles, evince the 

 propriety of separating the three genera below mentioned from 

 those contained in the next sub-tribe. 



Maxillae with the outer lobe prolonged, setaceous ; 



Antennae not thickened externally. Nemognatha. 



Antennae thicker towards the tip. Gnathium. 



Maxillae with the outer lobe not prolonged. Zonitis. 



The species of Nemognatha differ like those of Lytta in the 

 size and shape of the spurs of the hind tibiae ; in Gnathium, the 

 prothorax instead of being square, as in the other two genera, 

 is gradually narrowed in front, but, as if to balance this approach 

 towards the next sub-tribe, the mandibles are still longer and 

 more acute than in Nemognatha. 



Sub-Tribe III. — L.yttini (genuini). 

 Head variable in form ; front with a very distinct transverse 

 suture, prolonged beyond the insertion of the antenna? ; the eyes 

 are transverse and subreniform, except in Pbodaga, where they 

 are regularly oval ; the antennas are variable in form, but inserted 

 in front of the eyes, except in Phodaga and Eupompha, where 

 they are situated between the eyes ; tbe mandibles are thick, and 

 obtuse, rarely (Phodaga) emarginate at tip ; the palpi vary in 

 form ; the lobes of the maxilla? are not prolonged ; the claws of 

 the tarsi are usually cleft to the base ; the upper part is not ser- 

 rate in our genera, and the under part is usually equal in length 

 to the upper one ; in Phodaga, Eupompha, Tegrodera, the under 

 portion is connate with the upper one, and only half as long. 



