1912.] 279 



appearance of being- very delicately dotted in a darker rufescent colour some- 

 thing- after the manner of L. lycopi ; suture scarcely marked : apices slightly 

 separately rounded and bearing, like L. gracilis, a few white cilia on external 

 margins. liegs : concolorous with body, posterior femora very slightly darker ; 

 posterior tibial spurs short; first anterior tarsal joint very slightly enlarged 

 in c? . Underside ferruginous. Winged in such specimens as we have been 

 able to examine. Length, 1-2-2 mm. 



L. peUucidus bears considerable resemblance both to L. gracilis 

 and L. succineus. From the latter its more oblong form and relatively 

 shorter antennse will separate it, and from both, in fact from all the 

 other species in this section, it may be distinguished by its very 

 distinct and regular but fine punctuation. 



Food plant. The food plant of this insect appears somewhat 

 doubtful. Fowler states it to be Trifolium and Mentha, liut we have 

 no confirmation of either of these. Bedel, quoting Weise, says : " sur 

 le Convolvulus arvensis,'" and one of us has certainly swept it oft' 

 ground covered with this plant near Malvern. It is by no means 

 a common species, and appears in but few collections. Its range 

 in this coimtry is unknown, but what records we have are all from 

 the southern half of England. 



L. PEATENSis,* Panz. [Faun. Grerm. p. 21, No. 16, 1794] ; Weise 

 [Nat. Ins. Deutschl. VI, p. 995] (nee Allard). 



Syn. pusiUus, Gyll. [Ins. Suec. Ill, p. 549, 1813] ; Foudr. 

 [Mon. p. 184] ; Brit. Colls. 

 reichei, AIL [Mon. p. 366]. 

 medicaginis, All. [Mon. p. 366]. 



With the exception of L. lycopi, the smallest of our testaceous species. Of 

 a rather short oval, acuminate and convex. Head pitchy black, very finely 

 alutaceous between eyes. Antennae: moderate in length, ferrviginous, with 

 last five or six joints fuscous. Thorax : transverse, finely bordered, ferrugnious, 

 distinctly alutaceous, with punctuation scattered and feeble, sometimes almost 

 obsolete. Elytra : testaceovas, iisually with the graniilar appearance to which 

 allusion has been made in the case of previous species, often clouded or lineated 

 with fuscous, sutiu-al line sometimes faintly and narrowly rufescent, plainly 

 alutaceous, punctviation weak and irregular, but distinct and considerably 

 stronger than that of thorax ; apices separately obtusely roimded. Legs : 

 testaceoiis, posterior femora darker, often fuscous, but never pitchy or black ; 

 posterior tibial spurs very short ; first anterior tarsal joint very plainly 

 enlarged in ^ . Underside brown. Winged, or, more often, semi-apterous. 

 Length, 1-1 J mm. 



* Apart from tlie priority which Pair/er's name has over that of Gyllcnhal, we have thought 

 it de.sirablc in this as in other cases of nomenclature, to conform to t}ie latest European list, even 

 although our doing so may involve the displacement of names more familiar to British collectors. 



