STAPHYLINUS, 373 
present species, which is distinguished from all its allies, including 8. buqueti, by the 
colour of the wings, a character which is apparently quite constant; but I am not able 
to point out any other means of distinguishing the species from S. feror. Nordmann’s 
statement that 9. atrox is 2" 2!" long is an error for 1" 2’, and is corrected by the mea- 
surement he gives of the head, viz. 3'", which corresponds with the insect we are at 
present occupied with. 
4. Staphylinus fulvomaculatus. (Tab. IX. fig. 13.) 
Staphylinus fulvomaculatus, Nordm. Staph. p. 89; Er. Gen. et Spec. Staph. p. 384. 
Hab. Mexico, Cordova, Guanajuato (Sallé), Jalapa (Flohr, Hoge), Oaxaca, Tehuacan 
(Flohr), Orizaba (coll. Sharp); Guatemata, Aceytuno, 5100 feet (Salvin), Escuintla 
(Champion). 
This remarkable species appears to be far from common, only about a dozen speci- 
mens from all sources having come under my observation, three of these being from 
Guatemala. Mr. Flohr informs me that it is usually found in ants’ nests, but also 
occasionally in dung. The figure is drawn from a female example found at Cordova. 
The figure of the wing (fig. 13 a) is that of the specimen found by Mr. Salvin. 
5. Staphylinus caliginosus. 
Staphylinus caliginosus, Er. Gen. et Spec. Staph. p. 388°. 
Hab. Mextco!, Oaxaca, Jalapa (Hége), Parada, Puebla, Guanajuato, Etla, Capulalpan, 
Yolos (Sad/é), Las Vigas, Maravatio (Flohr) ; GuaTEMaLa, Duefas, Quezaltenango, 7800 
feet (Champion). 
This is an extremely variable species; varieties in Sallé’s collection are ticketed 
S. caudatus and S. scutellaris, Deyr., and Mr. Flohr has communicated another variety 
as being S. pardalis, K. Dugés, all these being MS. names. The hind body is at the 
extremity usually of a sordid red colour, as described by Erichson, but occasionally it 
is completely black; the head and thorax are sometimes of an eneous colour; the 
tibiee and tarsi vary from black to testaceous in colour; and the elytra are sometimes 
ferruginous instead of black. In fresh specimens there are always to be detected some 
few fuscous scales on the elytra and hind body, and in the paler specimens these become 
much increased, so that the surface is very much more variegate, and in these specimens 
the pubescence of the under surface is paler and more elongate. I am not acquainted 
with any other species of Staphylinus showing so great an amount of variation. 
It is very closely allied to the North-American S. mysticus, Er., and the larger 
individuals attain the stature seen in its congener; but even in these examples of 
similar size, the antenne of the North-American species are considerably longer and 
more slender, so that the two are probably really distinct. 
