234 [August, 



description, but they are both very rare, and, at the time of my writing 

 this, are universally confounded in collections and literature with griseus. 

 I conclude, therefore, that our most common species of Helopliorus is 

 the minutus of Fabricius and the type of the genus. I may add that, 

 so far as tradition goes, from Olivier to Eey, it supports this view, the 

 minutus of these authors being in all probability our common " griseus^ 



The natural difficulties in the delimitation of the species are 

 neai'ly insuperable. I have, by adding to the characters hitherto used 

 those derived from observation of the genitalia, been able to arrive at 

 a conclusion in several cases, but there are others where uncertainty 

 will, I fear, long continue to prevail. Kuw'ert called this genus Bliopal- 

 helorshoms, and his treatment of it is incomprehensible. I may remark 

 in pa.ssing that he evidently reversed the application of the name. 

 BJiopalheIr>2)ho7-'tis and AtractJielo'phorns were no doubt designed by him 

 to represent the knobbed palpus and the prolonged palpus respectively. 

 But, unfortunately, he applied the knobbed palpus name to the genus 

 with drawn-out palpus and vice versa ! Those to whom the names are 

 not yet familiar will do well to recollect this curious error, especially 

 as it is an instructive illustration of Kuwert's hasty work. He included 

 38 supposed species and numerous named varieties in Rhopalhelophorvs, 

 and a large proportion of these cannot be determined from his characters. 

 As regards his nomenclature and synonymy I have in most cases 

 adopted the interpretations of them given by Ganglbauer and Zaitzev, 



The structure of the elytra that I have used as an important 

 character has hitherto escaped observation, so that a few words of 

 explanation of it are necessary. If a Heloplwrus be viewed from the 

 ventral aspect, it will be found that in the majority of the species 

 {e.g., aeneipennis, minutus, etc.) the outline of the body is defined by 

 that of the epipleuron, which commencing from the shoulder 

 extends to near the tip as a fine, raised, crenate line, that allows no 

 part of the flank of the elytron to be perceived except at the extreme 

 base, where a small portion of the prominent shoulder is visible in 

 so)ne species. If, on the other hand, H. mulsanti, or H. championi, or 

 nanus is examined, it is found that when the crenate line reaches the 

 metasternum it is twisted slightly towai'ds the mesial line of the body, 

 and that the outline is, beyond this, defined by an obscure line which 

 is really a poi-tion of the interstice above the epipleuron. Though 

 this character is quite constant, and is important because it is an 

 approximation to the condition that exists, in a more marked manner, 

 in Trichelophorus, it cannot be ti-eated as of the first importance in 



