Mr. J. Walton on tlie genm OtiorhyucLus. 449 



the ultimate segment of the abdomen, which I communicated to 

 Germar and to Chevrolat in February 1842; previously to this, 

 entomological authors (not being aware of the sexual disparities) 

 had either considered the male as a variety, or had separated it 

 as a distinct species. 



The male differs by having the elytra narrower, punctate- 

 striate, the punctures distinct or indistinct, the interstices nar- 

 row, transversely rugose, and the ultimate segment of the abdo- 

 men delicately striated ; the female differs by having the elytra 

 broader, transversely rugulose, very obsoletely striated near the 

 suture, and more or less distinctly near the apex, and the ulti- 

 mate segment of the abdomen punctulated : immature varieties 

 occur with the elytra rufo-piceous, and the colour of the legs 

 varies from testaceous to piceous ; the knee-joints and the tarsi 

 are generally of a deeper shade of colour than the other parts, 

 and are occasionally black. 



Scarcely any doubt can exist but that Gyllenhal has described 

 the female under the name of Cure, tenehricosus, and the male 

 under that of Cure, ater, and the words of the description, " seg- 

 mento anali tenuissime substriato*,^^ as a character peculiar ta 

 the male, appear to me conclusive. 



I sent fifteen specimens {S ? ) of this insect as Ot. tenebrieosus 

 to Germar, who remarks, — " Ot. niger of Schonh. {ater of Gyll.) 

 I consider merely as a variety of Ot. tenebrieosus, from which in- 

 deed it apparently differs by its smaller size, and more distinct 

 striae of the elytra, but it is reunited to it by the most uninter- 

 rupted transitions f.^' 



Under the name of Ot. niger of Fab. {ater of Gyll.) Schonherr 

 has synonymized and characterized the male of this insect as Ot. 

 scrobiculatusX, of which I have specimens from Germar, and 

 which is decidedly a large male variety of Ot. tenebrieosus. 



I may refer to Mr. Curtis^s ' British Entomology ' for an in- 

 teresting account of the devastation committed in gardens and 

 nursery-grounds by the larvse of this and of other species of the 

 genus. 



This and the following insect being night-feeders, are found 

 very abundantly in June, after twilight in thick hedges, about 

 Mickleham in Surrey, and in many other counties in the south of 

 England, but it appears to be very rare in the north. 



10. Otiorhynchus fuscipes, Oliv., Schonh, 



— Fagiy Chevr. ( $ ) Schonh. 



— hypolaus et Sacer, Kirb. MSS. 



Oblong-ovate, black, very sparingly pubescent. Head rather 



* Gyll. Ins. Suec. iii. p. 292. f Germ. Stettin Ent. Zeit. 1812, p. 103. 

 : Syn. Ins. Suppl. vii. p. 265 (1813). 

 Ann. ^j- Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xix. Suppl. 32 



