566 Coleopterological Notices, VII. 



the island of St. Thomas, may be assigned to this genus for the 

 present, although the male sexual characters are of a slightly dif- 

 ferent order, the ventral pygidium being much shorter and semi- 

 circular, the second and third ventrals tuberculate sublaterally, 

 and the anterior and intermediate femora not particularly swol- 

 len ; the anterior femur is foveate on the posterior edge just be- 

 yond the middle, and the corresponding edge of the middle femur 

 is carinate at the middle. 



The species of Melba are all very small in size and may be as- 

 signed to four groups by the following characters : — 



Basal intra-humeral fovea of the elytra short. 

 Pronotum impunctate. 



Occiput impressed or canaliculate at the middle Group 1 



Occiput not impressed Group 2^ 



Pronotum finely and asperately punctate Group S 



Basal fovea large and elongate ; species rather less minute Group 4 



The first group comprises parvula, texana, stdcatula, laticollis 

 and discolor, the second gracilis of Brendel,the third puncticollis 

 and thoracica, B.nd the fourth maja,fossiger and uniformis. Dis- 

 color is said to have no occipital impression by Dr. Brendel in 

 his paper on the genus Trimium (Tr. Am. Ent. Soc.,XIX, p. 166)^ 

 but is particularly defined by its channeled occiput in the mono- 

 graph of the Pselaphidse by that author (Nat. Hist. Bull. Univ. 

 Iowa, II, pp. 32 and 34 ) ; the latter statement is in agreement 

 with the description of LeConte. 



The four species which follow appear to be undescribed hith- 

 erto. 



M. texana n. sp. — Moderately veutricose, strongly convex, polished and 

 impunctate, pale testacejus throughout, the pubescence fine, short, decumbent 

 and rather dense. Read slightly though distinctly, narrower than the pro- 

 thorax, as long as wide, with two rather small nude fovese just behind the 

 middle, separated by nearly }4 the entire width, the ambient connecting 

 depression very shallow and feeble throughout ; antennal tubercles somewhat 

 small but pronounced ; eyes rather small, at much more than their own length 

 from the base, the tempora behind them a little less prominent, very feebly 

 convergent and straight, somewhat abruptly rounded at base, the occipital im- 

 pression rather short > nd feeble ; antennae normal, nearly as in parvuJa. Pro- 

 thorax slightly wider than long, widest and a little more strongly rounded at 

 the middle, the sides moderately convergent and arcuate th nee to the apex, 

 siunate toward base and parallel in basal fourth ; sulcus distinct, broadly bi- 

 arcuate. Elytra distinctly shorter than wide, nearly }4 longer and 4^ wider 

 than the prothorax, the sides strongly divergent from the moderately exposed 



