NOTES ON TELEPHORI. 135 



Description of Tel. ater from PayliuU. 



" Caput nigrum, antennae elytris fere longiores basi rufescentes. Thorax 

 niger, convexus, margiuatus, antice rotundatus postice subtransversus, vix 

 latitudine longitudinis. Scutellum subtriangulare, nigrum, apice obtuso. 

 Elytra nigra, punctulata, thorace paulo latiora et latitudine plus triplo long- 

 iora. Alee fusco-hyalinas. Pectus et abdomen nigra. Tibice saepius fusco- 

 pallidee rarius ferruginge. Tarsi jam nigri jam fusco-pallidi." — ' Fauna 

 Suec' Insecta. tom. i. 266-7. 



The point in which Telephorus ater chiefly differs from 

 Tel. Jlavilahris, and the specimens erroneously designated 

 Tel. ater hy Stephens, consists in the thorax being entirely 

 black. I communicated the above descriptions to Mr. Dale, 

 and requested him to inform me whether any of his speci- 

 mens of Telephori agreed with them. His reply is in the 

 negative, and furnishes additional evidence that the Linnaean 

 ater has been mistaken by Mr. Stephens, who has rather 

 carelessly (it must be confessed) placed under that designa- 

 tion specimens having no distinctive characters, and evidently 

 only varieties oi flavilahris. 



The genus Telephorus still requires much attention in or- 

 der to elucidate its contents. Tel. fulvicollis^ iridis, affinis 

 (var. oi fulvicollis ?), cantianus (var. of pellucidus ?), and 

 others, require a strict investigation, in order that the species 

 may be correctly characterised, and the mere varieties ar- 

 ranged as such. In the forthcoming ' Synopsis' of Mr. Curtis 

 it is to be hoped that much of this confusion will be obviated, 

 and many errors in this and other groups corrected. 



The synonyms of the two species confounded by Mr. Ste- 

 phens may be given as follows. — 



1. Telephorus ater. 



Cantharis atra^ Linn. * Syst. Nat.' ii. p. 649. 

 „ „ Fabr. 'Ent. Syst' i. p. 215. 



„ „ PaykuU, ' Fauna. Suec. Ins.' i. 266. 



2. Telephorus Jlavilahr is. 



Cantharis JlavilabriSy Fallen. * Mon. Canthar.' i. 12. 

 „ „ Gyllen. ' Ins. Suec' i. 337. 



„ picea, Kirby, MSS. Steph. 'Catal.' 



Telephorus JlavilabriSf Stephens, 'lUustr. Mand.' iii. 294. * Ent. 

 Edin.' 211. Vars. ^,nigrina, Kirby; y, dissimilis, Marsham; 

 d, ater, Steph 



Warrington, Jan. 27th 1840. 



k 



