176 Mr. G. 0. Champion on the 



20. Melyris subcostata. 



Zygia subcostata, Pic, Rev. Zool. Afric. iii. p. 159 (1913). 



$ . Ventral segment 5 subtruncate at tip, 6 rufo-testa- 

 ceous, almost unimpressed, broadly shallowly arcuate- 

 em argin ate. 



Hub. W. Central Africa, Bukama in the Congo Region 

 (Dr. Bequaert, in Mus. Congo Beige). 



M. Schouteden has lent me the type, $ , of this species. 

 It has the elytra almost as coarsely punctate as in the 

 E. African M. sansibarica, Harold, the elytra themselves 

 being more elongate in the present insect; the prothorax is 

 thickly nigro-villose, and has a very feeble lateral carina ; 

 the antennae ( $ ) are longer and somewhat loosely articulate, 

 joint 3 being elongate and nearly as long as 4 and 5 united, 

 and 4-10 are triangular ; and the abdomen is green. The 

 tarsal claws are very long and armed with a long tooth. 

 The peculiar antennal structure (suggestive of that of the 

 S. African M. viridis and M. laoaicornis) appears to have 

 been overlooked by Pic, and the sex of the specimens described 

 was not stated. 



21. Melyris abdominalis. 



Lagria abdominalis, Fabr. Mant. Ins. i. p. 93 (1787). 



Melyris abdominalis, Oliv. Ent. ii. 21, p. 4, t. 1. fig. 7 ; Cast. Hist. Nat. 



Ins. Co-opt. i p. 283. 

 Cryptocephalus (Lagria) ventralis, Gmelin, ed. Linn. i. 4, p. 1739. 



($ . Ventral segments broadly hollowed at apex : 5 rufes- 

 cent, almost smooth, deeply excavate on each side of the 

 convex median portion, triangularly emarginate at tip, as 

 is also the corresponding dorsal segment ; median lobe of 

 sedeagus narrowed and somewhat pointed at tip ; tegmen 

 set with extremely long pallid hairs at apex. 



$ . Ventral segment 6 cleft down the middle, black. 



Hub. W. and Central Africa, Senegal, Cameroons, Lagos, 

 Nigeria, Gold Coast, Ashanti, Dahomey,. &c ; Congo Region 

 — Bambili-Limbala, Sassa, Uele, Banzyville, Bili-Lebo 

 (Mus. Congo Beige) ; Uganda, N. shore of L. Salisbury, Mt. 

 Elgon (C. A. Wiggins, in Mus. O.von.), Mazingo, Pajao [Luz 

 Country] (C. S. Betton : 28. x. 1901 : $). 



A common species in the warmer parts of the West Coast 

 of Africa, extending eastwards into Uganda, females pre- 

 ponderating in the extensive series before me. A large, 

 elongate, convex, nigro-pilose form, usually brilliant metallic 

 blue or violaceous above, more rarely green, the legs black, 



