82 [April, 



From this review I have concluded that P. fuscipennis should be 

 added to the list of British insects and that it is probably a good 

 species ; distinguished from melanocephalus by the darker coloration 

 of the head, by the black tips of the palpi (which also are slightly 

 shorter than in melanocephalus) , and by the rather coarser and more 

 definite punctuation of the elytra. 



2. P. MELANOCEPHALUS, El'. 



In 1877 (Bull. Soc. Ent. France, p. clxxvii) Bedel pointed out 

 that the species we have recognised under this name has been in- 

 correctly treated as regards synonymy, and suggested that we should 

 call it quadripunctatus, Herbst. He is followed in this by Ganglbauer 

 and Eeitter, and we may adopt this name, though in my opinion it 

 would have been better to continue to follow Erichson. 



As regards the occurrence of the species in tliis country I may 

 remark that, though all my Scottish examples assigned to it prove to 

 be fuscipennis, Th., in the South of England P. quadripunctatus 

 (previously treated of under the name of melanocephalus) is not un- 

 common. Mr. C. J. C. Pool finds it at Southsea ; I have met with it 

 at Kainham and Horning, and have also a pair given me many years 

 ago by Dr. J. A. Power as being P. nigricans. 



3. P. FRONTALIS, El'. 



Erichson's description of P. frontalis was published, I believe, in 

 the latter part of the year 1837, and it undoubtedly applies to the 

 species we have hitherto called nigricans, Zett., but according to 

 Hagen, Zetterstedt's description did not appear till 1838. We should 

 therefore adopt the name given by Erichson. This change is an 

 advantageous one. 



P. frontalis is, according to my experience, the most abundant of 

 this group of species, occurring in plenty both in England and Scotland. 



4. P. MARITIMUS, Th. 



This species is also the unfortunate victim of a proposed change 

 of name. Bedel, Ganglbauer, and Eeitter call it bicolor, Fabr. The 

 description of bicolor by Fabricius may possibly apply to maritimus. 

 Erichson examined the type and considered it to be a variety of 

 P. testaceus with pale vertex. Erichson, however, did not recognise 

 P. maritimtis which usually (though not invariably) has a pale vertex, 

 and it is therefore probable that the type examined by Erichson may 

 be really maritimus. Still this is not certain, and the description of 



