niSTER. HISTER. 
Generic Character. 
Antennae capitatae capital o 
solidiusculo ; infinio arti- 
culo coinpresso, decur- 
vato. 
Caput intra corpus retrac- 
tile. Os forci})atuni. 
/ Elytra corpore breviora. 
Tibi(e anticac dentatsc. 
Antenn/e headed by a some- 
what solid tip; lowest 
joint compressed and de- 
curved. 
Head retractile. Mouth for- 
cipated. 
Wing-sheaths shorter than 
the body. 
Fore-legs toothed. 
Xhe most common E,uropean species of this 
genus is the Hister unicolor of Linnteus. It is 
entirely of a glossy coal-black colour, and of a 
slightly flattened shape; varying considerably in 
size, but usually measuring about the third of an 
ineh in length, and is often seen in gardens, sandy 
fields, &c. Its larva seems to be unknown. 
Hister quadrimaculatus. Lin. has much the ap- 
pearance of a small beetle; its shape is strongly 
convex, and its colour black, with two dull-red 
bars on each wing-shell; viz. one at the base, and 
the other, smaller, at the tip. It is found about 
dunghills, &c. 
