162 Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell — Descriptions and 



broadest toward the base, where they are posteriorly con- 

 cave. Abdomen dull and hairy, the hind margins of the first 

 five segments (especially the fourth and fifth) whitened or 

 pallid ; before the light tegnmeutavy bands is fuscous hair, 

 except on the first segment, where the band itself is feebly 

 developed. 



" Guyane, Maroni " (Queensland Mus. 46). 



This seems out of place in the Neotropical fauna, and 

 I wondered whether it could be an Old World species with 

 wrong locality-label. However, I fail to find any such species 

 in the fauna of Asia or Africa, and the structure of the hind 

 legs, most significantly the basitarsi, approaches that of the 

 American N. nortoni, Cresson. Consequently I believe it is 

 really an American insect. 



Melipona chrysura, sp. n. 



£ . — Length 9 mm. 



Robust ; head and thorax black, with short pale hair, 

 ochreous dorsally ; face dark, except that there is a reddish 

 spot below each antenna, and the lower edge of clypeus is 

 narrowly red ; labrum and apical part of mandibles reddish ; 

 scape with a red spot at base and a less conspicuous one at 

 apex ; flagellum very long, ferruginous beneath ; scutellum 

 and axillae clear fulvous ; metathorax suffused with reddish ; 

 clypeus dull, but a polished shining band marking its upper 

 end ; tubercles fulvous ; mesothorax dull, densely rugoso- 

 punctate, with two shining lines on each side, and a median 

 line ol greyish-white hair ; scutellum dull j base of meta- 

 thorax shining ; tegulae large, ferruginous. Wings reddish 

 hyaline, stigma and nervures ferruginous. Legs more or 

 less reddish, the anterior femora beneath and tibiae in front, 

 middle tibiae at apex, and hind tibiae suffusedly on inner side, 

 ferruginous. Abdomen broad, dull orange, the first two 

 segments combined with a very broad X-like dark brown 

 mark, the upper arms of which reach the sides of first seg- 

 ment, but the lower arms go little more than halfway to 

 sides of second ; segments 3 to 5 dark at base ; sixth dark 

 with pale hind margin; venter pale fulvous suffusedly 

 marked with fuscous. 



Olokemeji, Ibadan, Nigeria (Queensland Mus., 55). 



Nearest to Trigona or Melipona tomentosa, Friese, but 

 larger, and differing in the details of coloration. 



