INSECTA MADERENSIA. 525 



one was to be seen. They are very active on the wing, — flying rapidly in the hot 

 sunshine from flower to flower, though within somewhat prescribed limits. Along 

 the sheltered ledges at the sides of the Ciu*ral das Freiras it is tolerably plentifvil ; 

 and on the 2nd of August 1850j I detected it in great numbers (diu'ing my ascent 

 of the Pico Ruivo from the Feijaa de C6rte) on the lofty mountain-buttress which 

 forms the upper barrier of the Ribeiro da Quebrada : and in July of the same year 

 it occurred to me sparingly (towards the western extremity of the Ribeiro do 

 Inferno) at the Lombo dos Pecegueii'os. 



Fam. 52. MELOID-ffi. 



Genus 177. MELOE. (Tab. XIII. fig. l ) 



Linnseiis, Si/st. Nat. edit. i. (1735). 



Corpm magnum, grossum, moUe, obscurum : capite deflexo, postice lato truncate ; oculis subreni- 

 formibus : prothorace parvo, plus minusve subquadrato, su])ra deplanato : elytris abbreviatis, basi 

 plus minusve complicantibus et apice singulatim rotundatis (debiscentibus) : alis obsoletis. 

 Antenna ante oculos iusertfe, vel filiformes vel medio iucrassatfe (in maribus interdum contortfe), 

 articulo primo vix robusto, secundo brevissimo, reliquis ultimo plerumque acuminato excepto 

 longitudine subsequalibus. Labrum subcordato-quadratum, antice profunde bilobum, lobis valde 

 eiliatis. MandihultB robustissimae cornese, basi crassje, apice plerumque bifidse vel etiam trifidae, 

 infra apicem necnon ad basin fissse. Maxilla bilobae, lobis subcorueis brevibus pubesceutibus 

 obtusis valde inflexis, externo geniculato. Palpi maxillares subfiliformes, articulo ultimo vix 

 securiformi-obconico : labiales elavati, articulo ultimo magno securiformi. Mentum coriaceum 

 transversum, antice fere integrum, lateribus rotundatis. Ligula magna robusta biloba, lobis 

 valde eiliatis. Pedes elongati, crassiusculi (oleum per geniculos, insecto terrefacto, emittentes) : 

 tibiis ad apicem internum calcariis duobus (in anterioribus sequalibus, sed exteriore in posticis 

 amplissimo compresso subcultriformi ad apicem plus minusve dilatato et oblique truncate) arti- 

 culatis instructis {calcariis ad basin articuli tarsorum primi per membranam affixis) : tarsis betero- 

 meris, articulis simplicibus primo (prsesertim in posticis) longiusculo, ultimo elongato unguiculis 

 valde bifidis (aut potius quatuor simplicibus) munito. 



The remarkable creatures which compose the genus Meloe, and which are so 

 widely distributed over the world, are perhaj)s, whether we view them in their 

 imago or their (much-disputed) larva states, amongst the most anomalous within 

 the whole range of the Coleoptera. They may be readily known by their dark and 

 more or less wrinkled (or crumpled) sru-faces, and by their soft, swollen (or 

 bloated) bodies, — their elytra, in addition to overlapping at the base, being con- 

 siderably abbre^dated and separately rounded off behind, so as to expose their 

 greatly enlarged abdomen (which in the female sex is often so unnatm^ally 

 distended as to render the insect nearly incapable of progression). Their deflexed 

 and posteriorly dilated heads, and the comparatively minute size of their (flattened) 

 prothoraces, in conjunction with their total freedom from wings, oftentimes 



