TAXONOMIC STUDY OF MORDELLIDAE RAY 279 



humeral line covering underlying castaneous derm, a transverse, post- 

 median fascia, extending to and along lateral margins but not reach- 

 ing humeri, extending posteriorly along suture and coalescing with a 

 preapical curved fascia that fails to reach lateral margins; a mixed 

 yellowish white on ventral surface and legs. 



Antennae 0.9 mm. long, scarcely reaching base of lateral prothoracio 

 margin; segments 3 and 4 equal; 5-10 subserrate, each broadest 

 medially and each twice as long as 4; 11 broadly rounded on sides 

 and apex, distinctly broader and twice as long as 10, broadest pre- 

 medially, apparently truncate at apex. Distal segment of maxillary 

 palpi enlarged, form of an equilateral triangle, sides straight, angles 

 rounded. Pronotum almost twice as broad as long (1.05 by 0.6 mm.), 

 apical angles obtuse, pointed, sides rounded, basal angles obtuse, base 

 arcuate, midbasal pronotal lobe short, declivious, truncate. Elytra 

 almost twice as long as broad (1.9 by 1 mm.), sides visibly attenuate 

 from base to apex, apices individually rounded. Intermediate tibiae 

 distinctly longer than their tarsi; penultimate segment of anterior 

 and intermediate tarsi filiform. Tarsal claws with four distinct 

 teeth (fig. 17, i). Posterior tibiae with a single, broad, flattened 

 tibial spur, attenuate to apex, two-thirds length of basitarsus, con- 

 cave on anterior surface, convex on posterior surface. Anal style 

 four and one-half times as long as apical ventral segment (1.4 by 

 3 mm.), narrow, thin, curved ventrad at its middle, broad at basal 

 fifth, thence narrowing abruptly distad and attenuate to apex; last 

 ventral segment truncate at apex, but one-half longer than penulti- 

 mate one. 



Type locality. — Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, Mexico. 



Type. — A unique female, U.S.N.M. No. 52922, collected on Sep- 

 tember 17, 1924, from weeds of the coastal plain, near railway of the 

 Isthmian line (A. Dampf ) . 



Remarks. — The dermal color of the elytra is changeable according 

 to the angle from which it is viewed, a more noticeable castaneous 

 tinge being visible from certain diagonal directions. The description 

 of the elytra was made from a direct dorsal view. 



Genus MORDELLA Linnaeus 



Mordella Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 10, p. 420, 1758. 



MORDELLA DIVERGENS, new species 



FiGUKE 19, a 



This species is most closely allied to the North American M. 

 lunulata Helmuth (1865, p. 96), but it may be separated from the 



165173 — 39 2 



