56 



[March, 



Z. Jcempenne was described by Heer in 1>54:1 (Fauna Col. Helv., 

 p. 240), who, after a description equally applicable to >everal other 

 members of the group, says : — 



" Mas. Abdoin. segmento ultimo subtus apice profunde emarginato. Statura 

 minore, elytris nonnisi summa basi nigris, punctatura subtiliore a L. fidvipenve, 

 capite pronotoque subtilius punctatis, eljtris brevioribus a L. rufipenne. ' 



Mulsant and Eey (Brevipennes, Pederiens, pp. 43—45) give the 

 special specific characters of the species as follows : — 



" J . Le 6e arceau ventral largement impressionne dans son milieu sur toute 

 sa longueur, largement echanere en angle a son bord posterieur qui est releve en 

 faite en son milieu, avee I'echancrure limitee de chaque cote par un dent tres sail- 

 lant, ciliee de noir, prolongee en arriere. Le 5e largement et faiblement impres- 

 sionne sur son milieu, largement et legerement echanere au sommet. 



? . Le 6e arceau ventral subarrondi a son bord apical, simple ainsi que le 5e. 



Ob3. Avec I'aspect du horeale, elle s'en distingue facilement par sa taille 

 moindre, par ses antennes plus courtes et submoniliformes, et surtout par les 

 arraures du 6e arceau ventral des J ." 



The species in our list to which L. Jcevipenne comes nearest are 

 L. boreale, Hoch., L.fulvijpenne, Grav., and L. rufipenne, Gyll. 



L. angustatum, Lac, is easily separated off from these by its long antennae and 

 much more finely and closely punctured head, and size and shape of course suffi- 

 ciently distinguish L. elongatum, L. L. Ixvipenne, besides the sexual characters 

 detailed in the above extracts, appears to be more obviously distiguishable :— From 

 L. boreale, Hoch., by its narrower and rather less closely punctured thorax, and by 

 the much coarser and thicker pubescence of the hind body (I confess I fail to fully 

 appreciate the antennal differences given above by Mulsant and Key) ; from L. 

 fultipenne, Grrav., by its smaller size, and more brightly coloured and relatively 

 shorter elytra ; and from L. rufipenne, Gryll. (a very rare species in Britain), by its 

 rather larger size, less closely punctured head, and relatively shorter elytra. 



In my specimen, a female, the elytra are of a clear red, with only 

 a slight darkening round the scutellum, but I can readily believe that 

 the colour of the elytra, or rather the proportion of red and black 

 varies in this species as it does in most of its immediate congeners. 



On the continent L. Icevipenne seems to occur principally in 

 Bavaria and Switzerland, but is generally a rare insect. 



In this group as represented in Britain the two species which 

 appear most difiicult to separate satisfactorily are L. boreale, Hoch., 

 and L.fuhipenne, Grav. :^pecimens, however, which I believed to be 

 referable to the former insect sent me by 3Ir. Britten from Cumber- 

 land were returned by Herr Gangibauer as L. geminum, Kr., which 

 is generally considered to be synonymous with L. boreale, Hoch. It 

 differs from X. fulvipenne^ Grav., in its shorter and more parallel- 



