244 NOTES ON THE AMARyE. 



base; elyt. with slightly punctulate striae, and a continuous series of 

 impressions on the margin ; body beneath pitchy-aeneous black ; legs, and 

 three basal joints of the ant., rufous ; pal. pitchy. Length 3i lines. 

 Var. $. Above shining black, or deep coerulescent. 



Var. y. Similar in colour to the preceding, but 'distinguished by being 

 only 2i lin. in length, and having the ant. entirely rufous, and the series 

 of impressions on the margin, interrupted. Denominated by Stephens 

 (who is in doubt whether it ought to rank as a species or a variety) 

 A. lucida ; it is also, apparently, Carabus lucidus of Duftschmid. 

 Var. £. ( Carabus erytkropus, Marsham, MSS.; A. erythropa, Steph,) 

 is distinguished from var 7. by having two obsolete smooth foveae on each 

 side at the base of the thorax. Length 2^ — 3 lines. A. familiar is is 

 rare near Warrington, but of more frequent occurrence near London, 

 Kimpton, &c. 



Sp. Amara atra, Stephens. 

 Syn. — A. atra, Steph. Mand. i. 134. 

 Sp. Char. — Deep black, slightly glossy, very convex ; hd. smooth ; thx. rather 

 broad, with a slight dorsal channel, and two subpunctate fovea?, on each 

 side at the base near the hinder angles ; the inner rather the deeper ; elyt. 

 very faintly striated, the external stria with an interrupted series of im- 

 pressions : the reflected margin of the elyt. and the sides of the thx. 

 beneath, aeneous ; the tibia? and tarsi pitchy-red ; the ant. stout, fuscous, 

 with the three basal joints testaceous. Length 3 lines. 

 The above description is taken from Stephens, who makes the following 

 additional observations : " Remarkably convex, and of a deep, rather obscure 

 black, which characters, and its slender, somewhat elongated legs, well dis- 

 tinguish it from its congeners; itsomewhat resembles a Helops." — " One specimen 

 only found near London." 



Sp. Amara tibialis, Stephens. 

 Syn. — Carabus tibialis, Payk. ; A. tibialis, Steph. Mand. i. 135. 

 Sp. Char. — Oblong ; above brassy, black ; in some specimens blue, coppery, 

 or black ; thx. slightly convex, transverse, nearly quadrangular ; with a 

 slight dorsal line, and two small impunctate impressions on each side at 

 the base ; elyt. with punctate striae, and an interrupted series of dots on 

 , the margin ; fern, pitchy ; the tibiae, tarsi, and three basal joints of the 

 ant., rufo-testaceous. Length 2 — 2i lines. 

 Not common, but apparently pretty generally distributed. This and the 

 succeeding species (to which it is closely allied) may be readily discriminated by 

 the abbreviated striae near the scutellum being absent, or its situation merely 

 marked by a few distant, obsolete punctures; 



