26 THE entomologist's RECOKD. 



that group and if it is not sufficiently near to )iiiiiiiti(s and coarctatus to 

 permit of its inclusion with them in the subgenus Metln/drtis it should 

 occupy an intermediate position between the two groups. 



With regard to the question of distinguishing the different species, 

 the separation of tcstaceas from iiiaritiiinis is easy. The latter species 

 has the head testaceous, "sometimes darker in the middle," and the 

 maxillary palpi are pale testaceous, whereas the former has a black 

 head — not including the clypeus — and the second segment of the 

 maxilliary palpi is dark. The tarsal claws also of the male of )iiaHtiiinis 

 are decidedly longer than those of teat ace im. 



In the character of the tarsal claws testaceus and iiielanocephalnx 

 approach one another closely. As a v\\\e the former species is rather 

 larger and lighter-coloured than the latter, and the latter usually has 

 the second joint of the palpi testaceous, biit slight difference in size 

 and difference in general colour are not the best characters to i-ely 

 upon, nor are they in this case alwaj^s constant. Melanocephalux is 

 occasionally light-coloured — I have a light specimen from West Norfolk. 

 Testaceiis is occasionally small^ — one small specimen was through 

 my hands recently. The dark second segment of the maxillary palpi 

 in testaceus will, as a rule, distinguish this species from inelaiwcephaltiH 

 in which that segment is usually testaceous, but I have two specimens 

 of the latter species, one from Cork, the other from Antrim, in which 

 the segment is coloured exactly as in testaceus. Fowler describes the 

 head of testaceus as black with clypeus testaceous, and he describes 

 melanocephalus as having a black head presumably including the 

 clj^peus ! As a rule this distinction holds good but it cannot be relied 

 on as I have specimens of melanocephalus from various localities in 

 which the clypeus is more or less testaceous. 



The colour of the maxillary palpi is not always " distinctly black 

 at apex " in melauocephaliis as Fowler states, as in some of my specimens 

 it is entirely pale testaceous. The only character I can find which 

 seems to be reliable in all cases, is the nature of the punctuation of the 

 upper surface, which is rather coarser in inelaiwcephalus, than in testaceus, 

 that is, in the former the punctures are larger and farther apart than 

 they are in the latter. 



Turning now to the two small species. Fowler separates them 

 according to the colour of the clypeus and of the last segment of the 

 maxillary palpi. 



Now the colour of both these parts is variable in testaceus, melano- 

 cephalus and niiiricans, especially in the two latter. In melanocephalus 

 as I have said we get all grades of colour in both parts from black to 

 more or less testaceous. In nigricans also we get the same range of 

 colour in the clypeus, while the palpi, which are usually pale testaceous 

 may be clouded at their apices. These characters therefore would not 

 seem to be reliable ones on which to separate minutus from coarctatus, 

 and Ganglbauer excludes the one as to the clypeus, since he mentions 

 that in the former species there may be a small patch of brownish 

 yellow on each side of it. 



I can detect very little difference in the tarsal claws of the males in 

 the two species ; in minutus, the tooth is slightly larger than in 

 coarctatus, but the difference is too slight to use as a character for 

 separating the species in practice. 



Here again the most reliable character for separating them seems 



