224 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



agree with the published descriptions of that species. Upon 

 his return to Edinburgh Mr. Carter brought the specimen 

 to me, and upon examination it proved to be an interest- 

 ing addition to the British list, namely, the little-known 

 H. borussica, first described by Stein in the " Entomologische 

 Nachrichten," Jahrg. xxv. (1899), p. 23, and more fully 

 afterwards in his monograph of the genus published in 

 the " Verhandlungen der k.k. zool.-bot. Gesellsch. Wien, 



Jahrg. 1903, pp. 334-335- 



At first sight H. borussica may be distinguished from 

 H. curvipes by its darker colour, the thorax having a 

 decidedly blackish tint with hardly any trace of longitudinal 

 stripes. The yellow markings on the abdomen are some- 

 what darker, and restricted to the two basal segments, while 

 in the better-known species this colour extends over part or 

 the whole of the third. The wings are also much clearer in 

 the present specimen, although Stein's description says they 

 are conspicuously tinged with yellow. 



The bristle arrangement on the legs is of the same 

 general character, but there are several important differences 

 which afford at once a safe and ready means of separating 

 the two species. The following characters, belonging to 

 H. borussica, will serve to show how it may be dis- 

 tinguished from H. curvipes : the front tibiae are less deeply 

 excavated, and with the long postero-ventral hairs only 

 extending along the apical third ; the middle femora have 

 about five postero-ventral blunt spines, which are confined 

 to the basal third, whereas in H. curvipes there are on this 

 surface only 3 to 4, which are more widely spaced and occupy 

 the middle third ; the middle tibiae are furnished at the tip 

 with two very long fine antero-dorsal hairs which are absent 

 in the other species ; the hind tibiae are bent much as in 

 H. curvipes, but with more than the apical half thickened on 

 the ventral surface at the middle is a very characteristic 

 short row of about I 2 to 15 long and strong bristles which 

 do not converge at t/ie apex, but whose ends are tortuous, the 

 whole forming a band easily visible to the naked eye and 

 occupying about the middle sixth of the tibia, the dorsal 

 surface with a row of long fine bristles occupying about the 

 basal half. 



