4 NOTES UPON THE GENERA SITONA, &C. 



idea of the same. The largest in size are broader and more 

 robust, generally of a coppery or gold colour, which, in cer- 

 tain lights, is more or less brilliant ; and their head, thorax, and 

 elytra are more conspicuously developed. As they diminish in 

 size, their stature becomes gradually more slender, the fore- 

 head narrower, and less gibbous, the thorax and elytra are also 

 considerably modified in form, and the colour of these slender 

 varieties is generally of a greyish blue; they are usually found 

 nearly without scales. Whether this peculiarity is occasioned 

 by the roving propensities of the males, or arises from age, 

 or a greater predisposition to be detached by abrasion, it is 

 difficult to say. 



Sitoiia puncticollis. — A gentleman, of whose long practical 

 experience in this order, and of whose accurate judgment and 

 keen discriminating eye I have the highest opinion, having 

 called my attention to the slender varieties of this species, which 

 appeared to him distinct from the true S. puncticollis, (and which 

 are known by the name of ^S*. canina,) on account of their 

 shorter elytra, and from the circumstance of his having re- 

 ceived them from Scotland, without any of the true S. punc- 

 ticollis, I have considered and examined his observations, 

 with a mind open to conviction, — with a sincere desire, if 

 possible, to search out the truth, — nay, more, with a feeling, 

 rather to be wrong than ri^jht ; but I cannot resist the evidence 

 of my own senses ; and my opinion is, that this species is spe- 

 cifically identical with S. puncticollis, differing almost entirely 

 in its less robust form. The general character of the sculp- 

 ture, after a careful examination, I find to be the same. The 

 length of the elytra is not comparatively uniform : this is, in 

 my opinion, a mere individual variation ; but this is not the 

 most remarkable discrepancy in the form of the elytra : in some 

 of the narrow examples, it is singularly attenuated, from about 

 the middle to the apex. I may add, the number of maculae, 

 or spots on the anterior margin of the thorax, as well as 

 the number of those on the disk, in recent and fresh specimens, 

 are the same in the narrow, slender varieties of this species, as 

 in the broader or more I'obust forms, _and are more or less 

 evident, unless obliterated by age, or otherwise. This species 

 I take in abundance by sweeping grassy fields ; and fine spe- 

 cimens can only be obtained by selecting from great numbers ; 

 they are generally found in bad condition. 



