MEEANOPLUS. 



169 



closely punctured, with oblique pubescence ; abdomen closely and 

 finely reticulate, more or less opaque. Head a little longer 

 than broad and broader posteriorly than in front ; mandibles rather 

 narrow, obscurely striate and pubescent ; clypeus convex in the 

 middle, inclined downwards, smooth and obscurely bicarinate ; 

 frontal area depressed, well defined. Thorax : the pro-mesonotal 

 shield about as broad as long, witli the anterior angles prominent 

 and acute, the sides posteriorly with a small incision, and beyond 

 that produced backwards into a long, somewhat laminate spine, on 

 each side overhanging the metanotum ; the latter vex-tical, slightly 

 concave, with a carina on each side ending above in an acute 

 spine ; legs moderately long. Pedicel : the 1st node smooth, 

 viewed from the side triangular, the apex bevelled ; 2nd node 

 globose ; abdomen cordate. 



2 . Resembles the g in colour and form, but is of course larger, 

 with the pronotiim vertical, not forming part of the dorsum ; 

 mesonotum and scutellum large ; metanotum as in the g • The 

 pronoLum has the anterior shoulders prominent, scarcely dentate ; 

 the mesonotum is wholly without spines, and the metanctal spines 

 are more robust than in the ^ . 



cJ . Pale testaceous or whitish yellow all over ; pilosity abun- 

 dant and long, as in the ^ ; head and thorax finely punctured, 

 opaque ; abdomen shining. Thorax : the mesonotum gibbous, 

 convex, with a medial, longitudinally impressed, shining line. 

 For the rest the characters as in the genus. 



Length, ^ 4-5 ; § 7-8 ; S 3-3-5 mm. 



Hah. Pretty nearly throughout our limits, avoiding only the hot 

 dry plains in the jS'orth Western Provinces, Punjab, and Central 

 India. Common throughout Burma and Tenasserim, and extending 

 to the Malayan subregion. 



193. Meranoplus belli, Forel, Rev. Suisse Zool. x (1902), p. 240, ^ . 



5 . Head with tlie antennae and the legs dusky brown ; thorax 

 and pedicel of the abdomen reddish brown, abdomen more or 

 less dark brownish yellow; pilosity dusky brown, very dense, 

 shorter than in M. hicolor. Head : the pro-mesonotal shield of 

 the thorax and the pedicel of the abdomen opaque, punctured in 

 places, having the appearance of longitudinal stria? in certain 

 lights, the puncturing much finer than in M. hicohr : anteunte, 

 sides of the thorax, the metanotum and legs more sparsely punc- 

 tured, subopaque ; abdomen more or less smooth, but dull, with 

 very minute and fairly jjlentiful punctures. Head nearly square, 

 convex in front ; mandibles proportionately broader than in 

 M. hicolor, striate ; clypeus medially concave, striate, bicarinate ; 

 anteunal grooves much broader proportionately than in any other 

 Indian species of the genus, smooth within. Thorax : the pi'o- 

 mesonotal shield broader tlian long, the anterior angles acutely 

 dentate, posteriorly at the lateral angles armed wdtli two laminate, 

 moderately long, acute spines ; metanotum bicarinate, armed with 



