MELOIDAE. 273 



maxillary palpi is broadly rounded at tip ; tile mandibles are 

 truncate, and have a small tooth near the apex ; the spurs of the 

 hind tibiae are variable in form ; the divisions of the claws of the 

 tarsi are usually equal ; in Calospasta the under one, though 

 separate, is shorter, and in Tegrodera, the under one is shorter, 

 and connate with the upper ; the tarsi are pubescent beneath. 

 Our genera may be thus arranged : — 



Penultimate joint of tarsi bilobed. Tetraontx. 



Penultimate joint of tarsi cylindrical ; 

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

 Anterior thighs with a sericeous spot ; (antennae filiform) ; 

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

 2d joint of antennae very short ; elytra even. Epicauta. 



Anterior thighs without a sericeous hairy spot ; 



Antennae filiform, outer joints cylindrical. Pyrota. 



Antennae thicker externally, outer joints oval or rounded ; 



Labrum deeply emarginate. Pomphopcea. 



Labruni slightly emarginate. Lytta. 



Lower portion of claws shorter than the upper, connate ; 



Labrum not emarginate ; body pubescent. Calospasta. 



Labrum emarginate ; body glabrous. Tegrodera. 



The form of the spurs of the hind tibiae varies greatly in Lytta. 

 In Pyrota and Pomphopcea the outer spur is obtuse, and the inner 

 acute. In Pleuropompha, Epicauta, Calospasta, and Tegrodera, 

 both spurs are acute. Lytta and Epicauta are found on both 

 sides of the continent ; Pomphopcea and Tetraonyx are confined 

 to the Atlantic States. Calospasta contains but one species, 

 Epicauta elegans Lee, and Tegrodera but one large and beau- 

 tiful species, T. erosa Lee, both from California. Pleuropompha 

 is founded upon Lytta costata Lee, from New Mexico. 



Though there is much difference between the various species 

 Lytta in the form of the outer joints of the antennae, which are 

 quite transverse in some and elongate in others, the entirely 

 cylindrical shape, which renders the antennae of Epicauta filiform, 

 is not assumed. 



The sexual characters are remarkable in some of the species ; 

 thus, in the male of Lytta Nuttalli, the trochanters of the hind 

 legs are armed with a spine ; in the male of Pyrota mylabrina 

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

 transverse, and flattened, with the under surface concave and 

 spongy. The antennas of the male oi Pleuropompha costata Lee. 

 ]8 



