GENUS MELANIPS. 169 



Black, semi- shining, covered with a close fuscous pubescence on 

 tbe head and thorax ; the femora, except broadly at the base, the tibiae 

 and tarsi, and the abdomen, except more or less above and beneath 

 (where the colour is fuscous or blackish), reddish; wings suffused with 

 fuscous, iridescent, the nervures fuscous-black ; the spurious nervures 

 distinct. Head and thorax sparsely and minutely punctured. Antennas 

 shorter than the body, black, almost bare, obscurely microscopically 

 striolated. Parapsidal furrows obsolete except at the base. Scutellum 

 rugose. Middle segment semi-perpendicular, densely covered with pale 

 fuscous pubescence. Abdomen strongly compressed, longer than the 

 head and thorax united, the base rather densely pilose. $ . 



The $ has the antennas a little shorter than the body, the third joint 

 sinuated; the abdomen is reddish at the base; the femora are blackish- 

 red at the apex, and the hind tibiae are, moreover, less fuscous. 



Length 4'5 $ ; 33-5 <$. 



May be known from canaliculatus by the parapsidal 

 furrows being only indicated at the base of the scutel- 

 lum, by the darker coloured wings, which have the 

 spurious veins quite distinct, and by the longer and 

 much more strongly compressed abdomen ; by the 

 body being less strongly shining and more pilose, and 

 by the shorter antennae in both sexes. The amount 

 of red on the abdomen varies. 



Apparently rare. Norwich (Bridgman). 



Continental distribution : Sweden, Germany, Austria, 

 Bohemia, France. 



Genus MELANIPS. 



Melanips, Thorns., Oef., xviii, 417. 



Dicserea, Foerster, Yerh. z.-b. Ges. Wien, x, 364. 



Zygosis, Foerster, 1. c. 



Thorax smooth, parapsidal furrows complete ; scutellum flat, with 

 two fovese at its base, smooth, shining ; base of abdomen bare. Antennas 

 stout, the joints in $ longer than broad. Radial cellule closed, 

 elongate, the areolet situated at its base, and complete at both sides. 



Characteristic of this genus is the complete areolet 

 situate at the base of the radial cellule. 



The name Melanips was first mentioned by F. 

 Walker (Ent. Mag., iii, p. 161), who gave an extended 

 description of the genus as understood by him. It is, 

 however, quite impossible to identify the " genus " as 

 defined by Walker, for it is clearly founded on species 



