Records of Bees. 477 



bright and broadly margined mesad with blue ; scntellum 

 with lateral sulci strongly marked, the general surface of 

 scntellum dark purplis^h and shining, the lateral margins 

 thickened and shining steel-blue ; median smooth ridge of 

 labrum little broadened above ; apex of abdomen broadly 

 cmarginate, formed as in E. manni, Ckll. From E. maniii 

 it is at once known by the strong keel down middle of 

 clypens, the dark black-haired first abdominal segment, 

 the blue margins of scutellum, &c. From E. smaragdina, 

 Pcity, by the black hiud tibioe, marked with green poste- 

 riorly (with a rather small Imt distinct tubercle above the 

 spurs), and the entirely black hair of thorax. From E. 

 auripes, Gribodo, by the strong clypeal keel, the less promi- 

 nent lateral keels of labrum, and the hair of legs differently 

 coloured, the fringe on apical part of anterior tarsi ferru- 

 ginous, while the pubescence on outer face of middle basi- 

 tarsi is shining creamy-white. It is also distinct from E. 

 mexicana and the various related forms described by Friese 

 and others. The mesopleura is dark blue. 



Manaos, Brazil {Miss H. B. Merrill) . U.S. Nat. Museum. 



Mesonychium dugesi, sp. n. 



(^ . — Length about 15 mm. 



Very robust, black, with the abdomen dark but brilliant 

 blue, the hind margins of the segments more or less green ; 

 disc of mesothorax dark purple-blue on each side of the 

 median sulcus; pubescence at first sight appearing wholly 

 black, but it is mixed with ochreous on labrum and lower part 

 of clypens, and there is a spot of the same on each side of front; 

 on lower part of pleura is a little pale hair, and there is white 

 hair on anterior tibiae posteriorly ; second and third antennal 

 joints dark red in front; scntellum rather short, hairy, 

 without conspicuous prominences ; third s.m. strongly 

 narrowed above, but not nearly to a point ; spur of middle 

 tibia strongly bifid, one division with two or three spines ; 

 hind femora broad, with a very large tooth beneath near 

 base ; hind tibise with a polished red area at end ; venter of 

 abdomen with a large red area in subapical. region. The 

 wings are brownish subhyaline, with a dark apical cloud. 



Guanajuato, Mexico (A. D^ges). U.S. National Museum. 



This has the appearance of the species which Schrottky 

 places in his genus Cyphomelissa, but the third submarginal 

 cell is as in Melissa or Mesoplia. It will easily be known 

 from Mesonychium insigne {Melissa insignis, Sm.), from 

 Orizaba, by the absence of the bright yellow hair. The 



