178 Mv. G. C. Champion on (he 



mfo-testaccous. About forty specimens (the sexes in almost 

 equal numbers) were captured at Lualaba, and three others 

 at Kambove, by Neave. the black-legged typical M. nigripes 

 occurring sparingly with them at the same localities. The 

 two insects have a similar genital armature. For convenience 

 of reference, they are perhaps best treated as specifically 

 distinct. One of the examples ( ? ) from Kikandja named by 

 Pic has been lent me by M. Schouteden for examination. 



E. and E. Central African Forms *. 



a. Elytral interspaces transversely plicate ; abdomen usually 



in part red, at least in <$ , legs black t Nos. 24, 25. 



b. Elytral interspaces foveolate or very coarsely confluently 



punctate. 



a 1 . Metasternum metallic femora and abdomen tes- 

 taceous No. 26. 



b l . Metasternum, femora, and abdomen testaceous .... No. 27. 



c 1 . Metasternum, legs, and abdomen nigro-cceruleous or 



black No. 28. 



c. Elytral interspaces seriately punctured ; metasternum 



metallic. 

 d l . Femora testaceous, the rest of the legs metallic or 

 black. 



«'-. Abdomen metallic Nos. 29-33. 



6 a . Abdomen testaceous No. 34. 



e 1 . Femora and tibiae, and sometimes the tarsi also, 

 testaceous. 



c-. Abdomen wholly or in part testaceous Nos. 35, 36. 



d~. Abdomen metallic Nos. 37-43. 



/'. Femora, tibiae, tarsi, and under surface metallic or 

 black ; elytra triseriate-punctate and, at most, feebly 

 plicate . ." Nos. 44-46. 



24. Melyris nigripes. 



Melyris nigripes, Harold, Stett. ent. Zeit. 1879, p. 335 l . 

 Zygia viridipennis, Pic, Le Naturaliste, 1897, p. 124 2 . 

 ? Zygia subapicalis, Pic, L'Echange, xix. p. 179 (1903) 3 . 



$ . Ventral segment 5 with a transverse arcuate depression 

 in the middle, feebly hollowed at apex, 6 almost level, 

 angularly emarginate ; median lobe of eedeayus drawn out 

 into a short curved point, obliquely truncate at tip as seen 

 in profile. 



Var. Head and prothorax blue or green, the elytra brassy 

 or cupreous, the terminal three or four ventral segments 



* Including Northern Rhodesia, but excluding- the forms confined to 

 Somaliland and Sokotra. Sixteen species were enumerated from E. Africa 

 (including Somaliland) by Kolbe in 1898 (l)eutsch Ost-AMka, iv. 

 pp. 221, 222). 



t The E. African M. ?wbilis, Gerst., and M. nigripes, Harold, extend 

 westward to the Congo Region. 



