1S7-.] 1{)7 



appear later in the season. 80 far as I know, there is bnt one brood 

 in a year. It is probably the larva of eq^uiseti wliicli Kaltenbach 

 mentions in his " Ptlanzenfeinde," p. 519. 



Synopsis of the Britisli species of Taxonus : 



A. — Posterior wings with two middle cellules ; tegulaj black.— a^rorum, Fall. 

 B. — Posterior wings without middle cellules. 

 a. — Legs reddish. 



Abdomen with a red band ; tegula) white. — eqniseti. 

 Abdomen without a red band ; tegulse black. — glabratus. 

 h. — Legs black. — glottianus. 



Selandria stramineij)es, Kl. — On recently examining my sj)ecimens 

 of S. stramineipes, I found that I had among them two forms, in one 

 of which the coxae are black, whilst in the other these organs jire 

 whitisli-yellow (except the extreme base, which is black), like the rest 

 of the legs. Further differences between them I cannot discover ; 

 yet it is worth while calling attention to this group, as Thomson has 

 described two new species which differ but slightly from stramineipes. 

 The Swedish author describes the coxae in the last-mentioned species, 

 and in his S. tempornlis (in both sexes in stramineipes) as black, while 

 in his S. analis they ai'e stated to be yellow at the apex, the latter 

 species having also the anus white above. These two new species he 

 distinguishes further by differences in the relative depth, &c., of the 

 frontal sutures and foveae, the length of the antenna?, and other 

 minute points, all of which are very diiEcult to apply, though, 

 doubtless, if one had types of the three species for comparison, 

 they might be evident enough. At any rate, I have satisfied myself 

 by an examination of a large series of specimens, both continental 

 and British, that no reliance can be placed on pedal coloration as a 

 means of separating the species, for I find it to vary more or less. 



The form with yellow coxae I have taken on ferns, and hence I am 

 inclined to believe that it may be the same as the 8. cereipes, V. VoU., 

 the larva of which feeds on Polysticliumfilix mas. 



The males are very rare compared with the females. I have in my 

 collection only two specimens — one British, the other continental. 

 They have the coxae and trochanters black, and the pronotum in front 

 of the tegulae is distinctly yellow. Assuming that Thomson's three 

 species are distinct, then this (^ cannot be his .stramineipes, for he 

 makes no mention of its having any yellow on the pronotum in the 

 (^ , and this is a character so apparent that it could scarcely have 

 escaped his acute eye. The (^ of temporalis and analis he does not 

 mention. In those specimens having the coxa? yellow (this being a 



