ipi4.] 79 



PHILHYDRUS HALOPHILUS, Bedel : AN ADDITION TO THE 



BRITISH LIST OF COLEOPTERA. 



BY E. A. NEWBERY. 



Some time ago my friend Mr. Claude Morley sent me, among 

 other beetles for names, a Philhydrus which I was unable to identify 

 with any of the known British species. Thinking that, it might 

 possibly be P. fuscipennis, Thorns., a species not unlikely to occur 

 here, and which is queried as synonymous with P. ochroj t&rus, Marsh., 

 in the 1906 European Catalogue, I sent some specimens to Capt. 

 Deville for corroboration. He tells me that it is undoubtedly P. halo- 

 pliilus, Bedel, which he regards as a good species, and not a variety of 

 tricolor, Fab. ( = maritimus, Thorns.) as given in the above-named 

 Catalogue. It is very possible that Marsham's ockropt&rue, if the type 

 is still in existence, will be found to be the halophilvs of Bedel, the 

 former name having, of course, priority. 



P. Tialophilus resembles both frontalis, Er. and bicolor, Fab. The 

 following table will serve to separate the three species : — 



A. — Elytra without series of setiferous pores ; £ with claws angularly bent 

 and head testaceous in front of eyes ; ¥ with head entirely black 

 and claws simple .frontalis, Er. 



AA. — Elytra with series of setiferous pores. 



a. Head more or less fuscous or testaceous, but paler in front of 

 eyes in both sexes, strongly punctured but not alutaceous 

 behind the well-defined and angular transverse furrow ; 

 claws as in P. frontalis ...bicolor, Fab. (maritimus, Thorns.) 



aa. Head black, with a testaceous triangular spot in front of eyes 

 in both sexes, sha.l lowly punctured and alutaceous behind the 

 nearly straight transverse furrow, which is badly defined ; 

 claws as in P. frontalis halophilus, Bedel. 



As observed by Bedel, the series of setiferous pores on the elytra 

 are very obscure, and it requires a certain amount of attention to 

 observe them. P. halophilus, like its ally P. bicolor, is found in 

 brackish water ; it occurs in the Mediterranean region and also on the 

 French coast of the Channel. The four specimens before me were 

 taken by Mr. Claude Morley in a ditch on the coast near Bawdsey, 

 Essex, in April, 1904. 



13, Oppidans Road, N.W. : 

 March 3rd, 1914. 



