﻿500 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 102 



Described from a female specimen collected at Mader Bergat, 

 Morocco, October 1941, by Ch. Rungs. 



Type. — In I'lnstitut Scientifique Cherifien, Rabat, Morocco. 



MECIDEA SAHARIANA Wagner 



Mecidea sahariana Wagner, Eos, vol. 25, pts. 3-4, pp. 190-191, 2 figs., 1949. 



This species is said by Wagner to be very closely related to Mecidea 

 pallida, but it is easily separated from that species by the longer, 

 narrower head, the relatively smaller eyes and shorter second antennal 

 segment. The species is also described as considerably smaller than 

 pallida. Wagner's illustration shows the male to have a remarkably 

 wide second antennal segment. 



The antennae are described as follows: First segment very short, 

 not attaining apex of head; second segment, male 0.8 or female 0.84 

 times as long as the head and noticeably flattened; in the male this 

 flattening is most striking and the flattened portion is wider than the 

 segment itself. The third segment of the male is somewhat more than 

 half as long as the second, but in the female it is only 0.3 times as long. 



The abdominal segments with a small black spot near the stigmata. 



Length: Male, 9.9 mm.; female, 10.0-10.3 mm. 



Described from one male and two females from Spanish Sahara 

 (U.-Bomba, March 6, 1943, and Sebka Um Seikira, April 8, 1945, 

 Mat^u collector). 



Type. — In the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Barcelona. 



As evidenced by his description of M. sahariana, Wagner is the 

 first author to note the sexual dimorphism of the antennae that appears 

 to be characteristic of all Mecidea. He also speculates on the distri- 

 bution of M. sahariana and AI. pallida and concludes that since the 

 latter was described from "Nubia Superior" it is unlikely that the 

 two species have the same range of distribution. In consequence he 

 states that it is probable that the records for pallida from Algeria, 

 Tunis, and Morocco pertain to sahariana. 



This conclusion seems highly improbable. Certainly typical M. 

 pallida occurs in Tunisia, for I have examined a male specimen 

 collected at Gafsa. Other specimens have been seen from northern 

 Nigeria and from the Aden Protectorate. These facts, combined with 

 the close relation of pallida to M. indica and to M. longula and M. 

 major, suggest a wide range of distribution for pallida. Furthermore, 

 the wide range of variation exhibited by the New World species makes 

 it seem likely that several of the species now listed from the North 

 African region will prove to be only variants of pallida. 



