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PLATE CCXL. 



MELOE TECTA. 



COLIEOPTERA. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Antennae moniliform, extreme articulation oblong. Thorax 

 Toundilh. Elytra foft and flexible. Head infle£led and gibbous. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER 



AND 



SYNONYMS. 



Black. Wing-cafes nearly the length of the Abdomen. An- 

 tennae thickeft in the middle. 



Meloe tecta : atra, elytris abdornine baud brevioribus, antennis 



medio craffiflimis. Panz. Faun. Inf. Germ. 

 Der Maywurmkafer mit ungewohalich langen Fliigeldecken.—- - 

 Pan%. Ibid. 



This is a rare Infe6l, and has not been defcribed by Linnseus or 

 Fabricius. It bears a diftant refemblance to Meloe Profcarahaus \ 

 but the Angular ftruilure of the Antennas will alone prove it a 

 diftindl fpecies. The Antennze in Meloe Profcarahaus are monili- 

 form, or compofed of feveral bead-like articulations, nearly of the 

 fame fize : thofe of this new fpecies are thickeft in the middle ; and 

 in one point of view the fourth, fifth, and fixth articulations appear 

 remarkably large and globular : in another, they feem writhed or 

 diftorted, and very concave ; the other joints are as in the former 

 fpecies,-— The whole Infedt has a fliining blue glofs : Meloe Pro- 



fcarabaeus 



