METRIOFTERA BRACHYPTERA. 163 



below. Anal segment emarginate at hind edge with 

 lobes rather sharp-pointed. Cerci stout at base, a 

 prominent tooth about the middle internally, slender 

 beyond the tooth. Subgenital lamina long, pale, with 

 a median carina, emarginate ; styles moderate in length. 



J O f C3 



FEMALE IMAGO (PL XIV, fig. 7).- -Very closely resem- 

 bling the male in general, but a little larger. El//tr<r, 

 not modified to form a "musical 5 apparatus. Ceri-i 

 not toothed. Subgenital lamina with a small posterior 

 notch. Ovipositor long about 10 mm., shining, getting 

 darker in colour from base to tip,, where it is very 

 slightly crenulated, only gradually curved on both 



O t/ / / 



edges. 



EGGS.- -Closely resembling those of M. albopunctata, 

 but perhaps a little more slender ; about 4 mm. long- 

 by 1 mm. broad ; very dark brown ; cigar-shaped 

 with a slight curve. (Extracted from the body of a 

 female.) 



NYMPH.- -Except for the smaller size, and the 

 absence or still greater abbreviation of the elytra, 

 the nymph closely resembles the imago especially in 

 the case of the female, whose ovipositor appears dis- 

 proportionately long. 



VARIATION.- -There is a very scarce variety in which 

 the organs of flight are perfectly developed, but it has 

 not yet been recorded for Britain. A fairly common 

 form has the green parts of the elytra replaced by 

 grey-brown, a change which considerably alters the 

 appearance of the insect. Occasionally the pale pos- 

 terior margin of the side-flap of the pronotum is 

 continued faintly all round, in which case a hurried 



V 



determination might cause a false record of M. roeselii. 



o 



DATE. Eggs, which are laid in the autumn, hatch 

 in the spring. The earliest records of capture I 

 have are 1 July (Oxshott, R. South), 19 July 

 (Ashdown Forest), and 29 July (Cumberland) ; but 

 whether the insects were mature, or not, I cannot 

 say. My latest capture took place on 24 October in 



