Mr. J. Miers on the Menispermacese. 33 



armed on its anterior margin laterally with tln-ee teeth, the 

 margin waved ; the first and second joint of the antennae black, 

 the remaining joints red; the face and cheeks clothed with 

 silvery pile; thorax metallic blue; the metathorax has in the 

 centre a deep incisure, widening to the base ; the apex roughly 

 transversely strigose ; wings hyahne ; legs red, their coxse, tro- 

 chanters, and base of the femora of a metallic blue, the pulvilli 

 black ; abdomen chalybeous, covered with a delicate silvery pile, 

 most dense at the lateral margins of the segments. 



Hub. New Holland. 



This extremely beautiful species is unique in the collection of 

 the British Museum. 



j^ote. — The insects belonging to this genus have very much 

 the appearance of those of the genus Oxijbelus ; they are however 

 very distinct, as also from those belonging to the genus Palarus ; 

 towards the latter they closely approach in the neuration of the 

 wings. I am not aware that Mr. Shuckard has published the 

 characters of the genus; I therefore subjoin its prominent cha- 

 racters : — 



Head transverse, as wide as the thorax; eyes oval, the 

 stemmata placed in a triangle on the vertex, the posterior pair 

 a little before the hinder margin of the eyes ; antennse short, 

 gradually increasing in thickness towards the apex, inserted at 

 the base of the clypeus, but not approximate; thorax ovate, 

 truncated posteriorly, the collar and scutellum transverse ; the 

 metathorax having a cruciform incisure, the transverse one curving 

 upwards ; the superior wings with one marginal cell, and three 

 gubmarginal; the second submarginal triangular, the third 

 elongate transversely, and of equal width throughout ; the first 

 and second submarginal cells each receiving a recurrent nervure 

 near their apex ; the legs of moderate length, and stout ; the 

 intermediate and posterior tibise strongly spinose; the clawa 

 have within their fork a large pulvillus ; abdomen ovato-conic, 

 the apical segment acute. 



V. — A few remarks on the Menispermacese. 

 By John Miers, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. 



It is now upwards of three years since I completed, as far as 

 the materials at my command allowed me, an investigation of the 

 very interesting and little understood order of the Menispermacea. 

 This I had arranged in the form of a monograph of some con- 

 siderable extent, illustrated by numerous drawings of species 

 and analytical details of each genus ; but it has not yet been 

 Ann. 6f Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. vii. 3 



