213 



fourths the length of the claw aud which represents, in our opinion, the lower divis- 

 ion of the claw in the other Meloida>. This spine is longer and thicker than in Hor- 

 nia, where it is but little visible, and hardly one-fourth the length of the upper di- 

 vision. Otherwise the claws of Leouia entirely resemble those o{ Sitaris initralis and 

 Hornia. 



The insect just described is closely allied to Hornia. Still we believe 

 it deserves to form a separate genus which should enter the tribe pro- 

 posed by us in our "Synopsis des genres de Meloides du Mexique'' 

 (Bull, de la Soc. Zool. dfe France, ix, 1886, p. 1) between the " Meloides 

 vrais" and the " Cantharides " of Lacordaire {I\leloim aud Cantharini 

 of Le Conte aud Horn) for the genus Hornia. This tribe could be called 

 Mornii {Horniides) if this new division should be adopted, which would 

 thus comprise already two genera, Hornia and Leouia. 



The important characters of this Meloid are : the overlapping of the 

 posterior coxae by the intermediate ones, the very short metasternum, 

 and the side pieces of the sternum not being covered by the elytra. These 

 characters approach it to Hornia, from which genus it differs in the num- 

 ber of anteuual joints, which is certainly only 10 in our specimen (pos- 

 sibly" a sexual character, but if so, we should say not a less remarkable 

 one) ; further in the form of tbe prothorax, which is by no means elongate 

 orcampauulate but rather cordate; in the much larger elytra, the metaster- 

 num being much less visible ; in the abdomen being not much inflated 

 and sub-corneous in all its parts; and finally in having that long spine 

 which represents the lower division of the claws. It ai^proaches the Sitar- 

 ini in the form of the elytra and cla ws, but the characters just mentioned 

 remove it so decidedly that in our opinion it can not be associated with 

 that tribe. 



We have so far seen only two specimens oZLeonia rileyi. One is that 

 we have just described ; the other was sent by us to Europe to Mons. 

 Auguste Salle. We have found them on the walls of a dwelling-house 

 of the Hacienda de Jupataro, State of Guanajuato, Mexico. At that 

 place we also observed some probably undescribed Anthophoras, from 

 the nests of which the beetles probably had emerged. 



I have dedicated this new genus as a mark of friendship and esteem 

 to my friend, Dr. Mcolas Leon, Director of the Mechoacano Museum 

 of the city of Morella, capital of the State of Mechoacan, Mexico, a 

 scientist already well known whether in Mexico or in Europe and the 

 United States, as a bibliophile, antiquarian, and naturalist. In re- 

 gard to the name of the species, I have given it that of rileyi, in honor 

 of Dr. C. V. Eiley, the learned American who first drew our attention 

 to the remarkable peculiarities of this insect (which in our Synopsis we 

 had placed, with some reserve, in the Sitar ini under the name of Hornia 

 mexicana) and who was kind enough to send us a pairof fiorwm minuti- 

 pennis Riley, which served us for comparsion. 



