MELIPONA. 563 



9. Head and thorax extremely minutely and closely punctured, 

 opaque ; abdomen smooth, slightly shining ; head broader than 

 the tliorax, transverse ; abdomen narrowed at base, somewhat 

 clavate. Head in front, the margins of the mesonotum and 

 scutellum, the sides of the thorax and of the median segment with 

 short cinereous pubescence ; the head and thorax black ; the legs, 

 the 2nd and following segments of the abdomen above dark 

 chestnut-brown, basal segment above and the abdomen beneath 

 pale testaceous white, the former sometimes with a brown spot on 

 either side ; wings hyaline and iridescent. 



Hab. Tenasserim : Borneo ; Malacca. ^ • Length 4-5 ; exp, 

 10 mm. 



Triijona terminata, Smith, from Tenasserim seems to me only a 

 larger form of tliis species. 



990. Melipona laeviceps. 



Triofona Iseviceps, Smith, Jour. Linn. Soc. ii (I808), p. 51, ^ . 

 Melipona Iseviceps, Dull. Ton: Cat. x, p. 580. 



^. Head, thorax, and abdomen smooth and shining, the front 

 and vertex and the median segment very highly polished. Head 

 and thorax black ; tlie face and clypeus covered with a thin 

 cinereous pile ; the antennae, the clypeus anteriorly, and the legs 

 rufo-testaceous ; the abdomen testaceous, darkening to castaneous 

 brown on the apical three segments above ; wings subhyaline, 

 brilliantly iridescent. 



Hab. Tenasserim; Singapore. 5. Length 4-5 • exp. 11 mm. 



A common species : builds its nest often in crevices in the 

 brickwork of the walls of houses. 



991. Melipona smithii. 



Trigona ruficornis, Smith (nee Lamarck), Trans. Zool. Soc. vii, 



p. 194, ^ . _ 

 Melipona ruficornis, Dall. Ton: Cat. x, p. 583. 



5 . Head, thorax, and abdomen smooth and shining, the head 

 and face in front slightly pubescent. Black ; the lower margin of 

 the clypeus, the antennae, legs, and abdomen rufo-testaceous, the 

 antennae specially bright-coloured ; pubescence cinereous ; the coxae 

 and femora of the legs and the abdomen towards the apex shaded 

 with fuscous ; wings hyaline and splendidly iridescent. 



Hab. Mainpuri, North-West Provinces; Burma; Tenasserim. 

 g . Length 3-4 ; exp. 9-10 mm. 



992. Melipona iridipennis. 



Trigona iridipennis. Smith, Cat. ii, p. 413, ^ • 



Melipona iridipennis, Dull. Torr. Cat. x, p. 579. 



Trigona beugalensis, Cam. Mem. Manch. L. Ph. Soc. xli, 1897. 



5 . Head, thorax, and abdomen smooth and shining ; the face 

 in front, the sides of the thorax and of the median segment with 

 a thick silky pile. Head and thorax black, the pile silvery; the 

 labrum, mandibles, palpi, antennae, and apical joints of the tarsi 

 testaceous, the sides of the mesonotum and the scutellum fringed 



2o 2 



