]\Ir. 'J'. V. Wollaston oti tho Cohoptera of St. Ilelena. 35 



The two examples from wliicli tlie above diagnosis has 

 been com])iled were taken in St. Helena l)y Mr. Melliss ; but 

 ■whether the species has been naturalized accidentally from 

 America, and occurs only about the houses and cultivated 

 spots, or whether it may have all the appearance t'n situ of 

 being truly indigenous, my ignorance of the circumstances 

 under which the specimens were captured forbids me to con- 

 jecture. 



Fam. 27. MordeUidae. 



Genus 49. Mordella. 



Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. edit. i. 420 (1758). 



73. Mordella Mellissianaj n. sp. 



M. angusto-elliptica, supra arcuata, rufo-brunnea (rarius nigro- 

 brunnca) et pube fiilvescente valde deinissa dense sericata ; capite 

 subsemicirculari, deflexo, oculis magnis ; prothorace subconico, 

 basi bisinuato ; scutello minuto ; elytris regulariter versus apicem 

 attenuatLs, apice smgulatim rotundatis, haud striatis ; pygidio in 

 mucroucm elongatum producto ; antermis pedibusque anterioribus 

 paulo clarioribus. 



Long. Corp. lin. 2-3. 



The uniformly reddish-brown surface of this rather large 

 Mordella^ which is densely clothed with a very decumbent, 

 yellowish, or fulvescent silken pubescence, must serve to dis- 

 tinguish it. The strong mucro into which its pygidium is 

 produced, although merely a generic character, will addition- 

 ally separate it from everything else with which we have to 

 do in the St. -Helena catalogue. The fcTv examples which 

 have come under my notice were captured by Mr. Melliss, 

 after whom it gives me much pleasui*e to name the species. 



Fam. 28. Staphylinidse. 



Genus 50. Creophilus. 



(Kirby) Steph., 111. Brit. Ent. v. 202 (1832). 



74. Creophilus maxillosus* . 



Staphylinus maxillosus, Linn., Svst. Nat. 421 ((1758). 



, Well., Cat. Mad. Col. 188 (18o7). 



Creophilus maxUhsus, Id., Col. Atl. 487 (1865). 



A single example of the common European C. maxillosus is 

 amongst ^Ir. Melliss's collectanea from St. Helena ; and there 

 cannot be the slightest doubt, therefore, that the species has 



3* 



