﻿484 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 102 



should be used for Cerataulax Signoret he also made his species 

 Cerataulax quadrivittatus a synonym of M. linearis Dallas. Walker in 

 in 1868 accepted this synonymy, but subsequent workers have not 

 (see p. 499). In 1911 Distant reported that linearis had been col- 

 lected in South Africa, and in 1922 Jensen-Haarup remarked in a foot- 

 note "According to Dr. E. Bergroth in litt. M. linearis proved to be an 

 African species." Hesse in 1935 referred to specimens taken in north- 

 ern Bechuanaland as linearis but at the same time he expressed the 

 opinion that a comparison of the types of linearis and prolixa would 

 show the two species to be the same. 



Dallas, in his brief description of M. linearis, states "Antennarum 

 articulo secundo, tertio subaequali." This remark was based on a 

 male specimen and is not characteristic of the males of prolixa or of 

 the males of any other African species of which material has been 

 available for study. 



WhUe this characteristic of the male antennae is common to 

 Mecidea major, longula, and pampeona these American species lack 

 certain color characteristics described by Dallas. Signoret's descrip- 

 tion of the color of the female specimen, which he described under the 

 name Cerataulax Quadrivittatus, suggests that this species and linearis 

 may be the same. An examination of male specimens of Quadrivittatus 

 from Mauritius will be necessary in order to confirm or disprove this 

 possibility. 



It is also possible that linearis may prove to be an older name for 

 Mecidea tellinii. Schouteden's description of the length of the 

 second and third segments of the male antennae of tellinii agrees 

 exactly with Dallas' description of this character for linearis. On 

 the other hand, Schouteden's specimens are described as being some- 

 what larger and paler than would be expected if the species were the 

 same. 



Type. — In the British Museum. 



MECIDEA LONGULA St&I 



Plate 47, Figures 7-9; Plate 48, Figures 35, 36, 54, 58 

 Mecidea longula StAl, Ofv. Vet. Akad. Forhandl., vol. 11, pt. 8, p. 233, 1854; 

 Ofv. Vet. Akad. Forhandl., vol. 13, pt. 3, p. 57, 1856.— Dohrn, Catalogus 

 Hemipterorum, p. 10, 1859.— Stal, Enum. Hemip., vol. 2, p. 17, 1872 

 [excluding Texas record]. — Lethierry and Severin, Catalogue g^n^ral 

 des H^miptferes, vol. 1, Heteroptferes, Pentatomidae, vol. 1, p. 92, 1893 

 [excluding Texas record]. — Kirkaldy, A catalogue of the Hemiptera (Heter- 

 optera), vol. 1, Cimicidae, p. 202, 1909 [excluding Texas record]. — Stoner, 

 Iowa Univ. Stud. Nat. Hist., vol. 10, pt. 1, p. 9, 1922. 



Related to Mecidea major and M. pallida but smaller and slightly 

 more elongate than these species. The antennal characters are dis- 

 tinctive and should serve to distinguish the species. The third an- 

 tennal segment of the male is equal to or slightly longer than the 



