162 Psyche [December 



with some degree of certitude that, hke the latter, they prey 

 essentially on Lamellicorn beetle grubs. The rather anomalous 

 "blue ant," Diamma bicolor, is somewhat related to the Methoca 

 group, and being a fierce and active insect of good size perhaps 

 attacks caraboid beetle larvae. 



AN AFRICAN FIGITID.E. 



By Alfred C. Kinsey, 

 Bussey Institution, Harvard University. 



Aspicera africana sp. nov. 



Male and Female. Body entirely black, except the antennae 

 and legs, which are rufous-brown. Head: black, ocelli yellowish, 

 compound eyes silvery; front concave, coriaceous, with a few, 

 short, wavy lines, bounded laterally by prominent ridges extend- 

 ing from the lateral ocelli to the base of the antennae and beyond 

 half way to the mouth; lower half of face irregularly rugosostriate, 

 hairy; cheeks hairy; mandibles dark rufous; antennae rufous- 

 brow^l, darker toward the tips, in the 9 13-jointed, in the cf 14- 

 jointed. Thorax: entirely black, finely coriaceous, the sides of 

 the pronotum and the metapleurae dense with white hairs; meso- 

 pleurae with a large shining area; parapsidal grooves continuous, 

 deep, cross-ridged, broad at the scutellum, curved sharply apart 

 at the pronotum; a narrow, elevated median ridge extending from 

 the pronotum half way to the scutellum; the depressed median 

 groove from that point to the scutellum is two-thirds as wide as 

 the distance between parapsidals; anterior parallel lines smooth, 

 elevated, extending half the length of the thorax; foveae very large, 

 very deep, sparsely striate, with a fine, shallow ridge between; the 

 spine of the scutellum about half the length of the whole scutellum, 

 with 3 to 5 longitudinal ridges. Abdomen: piceous black, finely 

 and regularly punctate, the 2nd segment dorsally about one- 

 third the total length and reduced to a mere scale on the sides, 

 3rd segment reaching almost to the tip of the abdomen; abdomen 

 in the male similar but more slender. Legs: uniformly rufous- 

 brown, including the coxae; with short hairs. Wings: very clear, 

 without hairs; the subcosta, basal vein, and radius distinct, pale 



