75 



MELITA. 



MELOLONTHID.E. 



768 



The only species of the old genus Melissa admitted into the British 

 Flora is M. ojKcinalis, Common Balm. It has ovate crenato-serrate 

 acute leaves, paler beneath ; the calyx subcampanulate, slightly ven- 

 tricose in front, distinctly 2-lipped, the upper lip flat truncate, with 

 three short broad teeth, the lower with two lanceolate teeth. This 

 plant, although it has a place in the British Flora is a doubtful native. 

 In its recent state it has a rough aromatic taste, and a pleasant lemon- 

 like smell. It is frequently used in infusion, under the name of Balm- 

 Tree, as a common drink in fevers. It was one of the medicines 

 recommended by Paracelsus, but at the present day it is only used as 

 a popular remedy. 



(Don, Dichlamydeous Planti ; Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



ME'LITA (Leach), a genus of Amphipodous Crustacea, generally 

 found beneath stones on the sea shores. 



.V. fialmata (Cancer palnatus, Montagu). Colour blackish ; antenna; 

 and feet annulated with pale grayish. 



JMita palmata, enlarged. 



MELIT^EA. [AcAtEPHjE; POLYPIFERA.] 



MELITHREPTA. [CiNNYRiD-E.] 



MELITOPHILUS. "[SCAKABID>E.] 



MELITTA (Kirby), a name for a genus of Insects belonging to the 

 order ffymenoptera, and to the tribe Mellifera of Latreille. The genus 

 as originally constituted by Kirby embraced all the Honey Bees known 

 at that time. This genus is now split up into numerous smaller ones. 

 Leach divides the MeUifera into two families, Andrenida; and 

 Chrytididcf. 



The AKDREMD.S include the following genera : 



1. Colleto. 15. Epeolui. 



2. Protopw. 16. Nomada. 



3. Sphccodet. 17. Caslioxyi. 



4. Jfalictui. 18. Melecta. 



5. Andrena. 19. Anthidium. 



6. Ciliwa. 20. Heriade*. 



7. Macropit, 21. Cheloiloma. 



8. Panurgiu. 22. ucera. 



9. Dasypoda. 23. Saropoda. 



10. Mcgachile. 24. A nthophura. 



11. Osmiu. 25. A pat hut. 



12. Ant/iocopa. 26. Hombus. 



13. Stelit. 27. Apit. 



14. Ammobate*. 



The CURYSIDID.E 



1. Cleptes. 



2. Chryrii. 



3. Euchrcenu. 



(Britith Museum Catalogue I/ymenoptera.) 



4. Hedijchrum. 



5. Elampus, 



MELITTI8, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Labiala. It has anthers approaching in pairs and forming a cross 

 bursting longitudinally. The upper lip of the corolla flat, entire, 

 straight ; lower lip with 3 rounded nearly equal lobes ; calyx mem- 

 branous, bell-shaped, ample, variously lobed. 



M. Meliiiophyllum, Bastard Balm, has oblong, 'ovate, or slightly 

 cordate leaves. The upper lip of the calyx with 2 or 3 teeth ; flowers 

 purple, with a white margin, or variegated in different ways, large. 

 Stem 1 or 2 feet high. M. grandi/ora (Smith) is only a slight variety. 

 They are both found in woods in the south of England. 



(Babington, Manual of Britith Botany.) 



MELIZO'PHILUS. [MERULIDJS; SYLVIADJ;.] 



MELLIL1TE. [SCAPOLITE.] 



MELLITE, or Honey-Stone, a Mineral, consisting of Mellate of 

 Alumine. It is found in Prussia and Austria. It occurs in square 

 octahedrons, looking like a honey-yellow resin, and may be cut with 

 a knife. 



MKLLIVORA. [URgiDS.] 



MELO (Broderip), a sub-genus of Valuta, [VoLUTA.] 



MELOBE'SIA. [CORALUNACE^.] 



MKLOCACTUS. [CACTACE*.] ' 



MELOCRINITES. [EHCRINITES.] 



JIELOCRI'NUS, a genus of Crinoidea, employed by Ooldfuss, in his 

 ' Petrifacta Europe*' for some fossils of the Transition Limestone. 



[K.M.IUMTE.] 



ME'LOE. The Linnamn genus Meloe included the several genera 

 of Heteromerous C'oleoptera now forming the family Cantharidce, 

 intereting on account of its including those beetles known under the 

 name of ' blistering flies,' and employed in medicine. 



The term Meloe is now restricted to the Apterous Cantharidce, and the 

 species are all beetles with large and swollen bodies, and short oval elytra, 

 lapping over each other at the base of the suture. They are sluggish 

 creatures and feed on various plants, especially the species of Ranun- 

 culus. When alarmed they emit from the articulations of their legs 

 an oily, yellow, or reddish liquid. Latreille maintained that this 

 insect was the Buprestis of the ancients, to which noxious qualities 

 were attributed. (See his paper on the subject in the 12th volume of 

 the ' Memoires du Museum d'Hist. Naturelle.') The nature of the 

 larva of ths Meloe has been a subject of considerable discussion 

 among entomologists, having been supposed to be a minute, active, 

 parasitic animal found on bees and flies. Most entomologists have 

 held this view since the time of Linnaeus, but the observations of 

 Geoffrey, Newport, and Westwood, go far to prove that it is a mistake, 

 and that there is no anomaly in the case. 



MELOLO'NTHID^E, a family of Coleopterous Insects of the 

 section Lamellicornes, and sub-section Phyllophagi. This family, of 

 which the Common Cockchafer (Melolontha vulyai'is) is an example, 

 may be thus characterised : Labrurn transverse, and in most instances 

 deeply cleft in the middle ; mentum as long as broad, or with the 

 length exceeding the breadth ; sometimes nearly heart-shaped, and 

 sometimes square ; the anterior margin either straight or notched in 

 the middle, but without any projecting process or tooth ; mandibles 

 strong and horny, and having at most but a single membranous 

 appendage, which is situated in a concavity on the inner margin ; the 

 apex truncated, and having two or three denticulations ; maxilla; 

 generally horny, and armed in most cases with five or six denticula- 

 tions ; antenna; usually with more than three lamellated joints ; all 

 the tarsi terminated by two claws, which are usually furnished with 

 a spine on the under side near the base, and sometimes divided at 

 the apex. 



The family Melolonthidce consists of three genera : Melolontha, 

 Rkizotrogus, and Serica, and some sub-genera of minor importance. 

 Species of this family are found in all parts of the world. In the 

 genus Melolontha, the antenna; are 10-jointed; the terminal 5, 6, or 

 7 joints are lamellated, and form a large fan-like appendage ; in the 

 females the lamellated joints form a smaller club than in the males, 

 owing to their smaller size, and also to a decrease in their number, 

 their being 6, 5, or 4 ; the labrum is deeply cleft on its lower margin; 

 the claws of the tarsi are furnished with a spine on the under side 

 near the base ; the abdomen in the male sex often terminates in a 

 horny pointed process. 



Two species of this genus are found in England, the Common Cock- 

 chafer, M. vulgaris, Fab., of which there is a figure in the article 

 COLEOPTERA, and the M. fullo, a large species nearly an inch and a 

 half in length, ad which is of a blackish-brown colour, with irregular 

 white markings. This beautiful insect is common in some parts of 

 the Continent, but rare in this country, and has been found chiefly in 

 the neighbourhood of Deal. 



The genus Rhizotrogus differs from Melolontha chiefly in having but 

 three lamellated joints to the antenna;, which are 9-jointed. 



R. tolititialii, an insect which makes its appearance in the month of 

 June, and often occurs in great abundance in some parts of this 

 country ; it very closely resembles the Common Cockchafer, but is of 

 a smaller size, narrower form, and paler colour. 



In the species of Rhizotrogus, as in Melolontha, the claws of the 

 tarsi are furnished with a spine on the under side at their base ; but 

 in the next genus, Serica, the claws of all the tarsi are divided at 

 the apex ; the body is of a convex ovate form, generally has a silk- 

 like appearance, and changes in hue according with a change in tho 

 direction of the light. 



S. brunnea, a common insect in England, as well as in various parts 

 of the Continent, is about three-eighths of an inch iu length, and of 

 a uniform pale-brown colour; the elytra are rather deeply striated, 

 and, as well as the thorax, thickly punctured. 



S. ruricola, another British species of the present genus, is of a black 

 colour; the elytra are reddish-brown, and have the suture and outer 

 margin black. This is a smaller insect than the last (being about three- 

 twelfths of an inch in length), and of a shorter and more rounded 

 form : it also differs in having the palpi obtusely terminated, and not 

 acute, as in <S. brunnea. This difference in the form of the palpi is 

 considered by many authors of sufficient importance to separate the 

 two insects generically, and by these authors the S. ruricola is placed 

 iu the genus Omaloplia. 



The genus Serica is found in all the quarlTi-s of the globe, and in 

 M. Dejean's ' Catalogue den Coldopteres ' there are 60 species 

 enumerated. 



In addition to the foregoing three groups, which appear to constitute 

 the more typical Melolonthidte, Latreille places iu this family the 

 following six genera : 



Uatyus (Lepel. and Serv.). This genus contains but few species, 

 and appears to be confined to Brazil ; they have the claws of the two 

 anterior tarsi bifid, and those of the other tarsi entire. 



Macrodactylus (Latreille). In this genus all the joints of the tarsi 

 are alike in both sexes, and all the claws are bifid ; the legs are very 

 long, and the body is of an elongated and slender form : tue thorax 

 is narrower than the elytra, and is contracted both anteriorly and 

 posteriorly. 



