1885.J 213 



THE NITIBULIDJE OF GKEAT BRITAII^'. 

 BY KEY. W. W. rOWLEE, M.A., F.L.S. 

 {Continued from p . 147). 

 Meligethes, Kirly. 

 This genus of the Mtidulidce is by far the largest in point of 

 numbers ; some of the species are easily separated, but many are very 

 difficult to determine with accuracy, and probably several of our British 

 species will in time be considered as not really distinct ; the denticu- 

 late anterior tibiae, taken in conjunction with the produced prester- 

 num, serve to mark the genus. The head is small and triangular ; 

 the mentum is composed of two pieces closely joined together ; I have 

 dissected it out in many of our species and find considerable variation ; 

 it is contracted in front and deeply emarginate, with a larger or 

 smaller tooth in the middle of the emargination, which sometimes is 

 almost, if not totally, absent ; the mandibles are short, rather broad, 

 but sharp, furnished with one or two small inconspicuous teeth near 

 the apex ; they project slightly beyond the labrum, which is strongly 

 bilobed ; the labial palpi are thick and short, with the last joint 

 broadly truncate ; the maxillary palpi are longer and more slender in 

 comparison, with the last joint truncate at the extreme apex ; the an- 

 tennae are short, with the first joint considerably thickened, and end 

 in a compact round three-jointed club ; the antennal furrows on the 

 under-side of the head are well marked, straight and parallel ; the 

 thorax is always transverse, sometimes very strongly (as in M.pici'pes), 

 at other times slightly (as in M. nanus) ; the body, as a whole, is sub- 

 quadrate, or more or less ovate ; the abdomen has its first free segment 

 as long as the three following, which are of equal length ; the fifth 

 segment is longer, and is furnished with two rounded impressions, 

 which approach one another towards the apex of the segment, and oc- 

 casionally meet ; although they differ somewhat in different species, 

 yet they are not very useful as a character ; the last segment of the 

 abdomen also often presents depressions, tubercles, or raised keels at 

 its apex, especially in the males, which are very useful marks of dis- 

 tinction, and there are also varying depressions and prominencies on 

 the metasternum. Some of the chief characters lie in the legs, which 

 will presently be noticed more at length. The wings are bilobed, the 

 '^' basal part being cut off from the rest of the wing {vide A. Murray, 

 Mon. of the Nitidulidcs, p. 221) ; this is one of the characters that 

 separate the genus from Fria, which has the wing entire ; the separa- 

 tion, however, is not so marked in Meligethes as in Amphotis and some 



