[1884.] 85 



iinother may be really distinct — the slight characters being so free 



rom connecting forms as to offer a presumption that there is no 



, liter-breeding — that it may well ultimately prove that there are 



everal extremely closely allied species mixed together as H. fuscipes 



1 our collections, so that at present Hydrohius picicrus, Th. (? H. 



\ 'ihrotundus, Steph.), may have the privileges of a good species in our 



I atalogues. I have distinguished a Japanese form recently discovered 



|y Mr. Lewis from H. fuscipes, on account of the greatly diminished 



unctuation of the hind femora ; while, on the other hand, Horn has 



3cently treated three of LeConte's North American species as being 



j iie same as the European H. fuscipes. 



I Shirley Warren, Southampton : 

 ' ' July, 1884. 



NOTE ON THE BKITISH SPECIES OP LACCOBIUS. 



BY D. SHAEP, M.B. 



I have just had occasion to examine some of the European species 

 I this genus, and have revised the British specimens in my collec- 

 1)n ; as the result I find we have four species, viz. : — 



1. L. siNUATUS, Motsch. 



2. L. ALUTACEUS, Th. 



3. L. MiNUTUS, auct. 



4. L. BIPUNCTATUS, Th. 



1. L. siNUATUS is the L. nigriceps of Th., and as the determination 

 ( Motschoulsky's i. sinuatus as this species is pretty certainly cor- 

 ifctjhis name should be adopted. The species is abundant in England 

 {^d Scotland, and may be readily distinguished by its larger size and 



■ lore oval form. 



2. L. ALUTACEUS, Th. — This, according to my experience, is the 

 irest of the four species, but I have nearly a dozen examples from 

 Adely separated localities, viz.. Hammersmith, Kingsbury, Deal, 



''I ^uthend, Edinburgh, and Aberlady. 



3. L. MiNUTUS. — Very abundant in the pond in flower garden at 

 licles House, Thornhill ; I have only besides two other examples, 

 iund at Cambridge and at Horning, October. 



4. L. BiPUNCTATUS, Th. — Somewhat local but occasionally abun- 



't|Ut; Deal, Stony Stratford, Horning, Edinburgh. 

 P 



The four species may be readily distinguished by the characters 



