1895.] 237 



collection, being Muelleri, Grnel., the others (males) taken by myself 

 at Buxton, on the moors, being the true morio, Zett. Mr. Douglas 

 has kindly lent me a ^ and $ from his collection for examination, 

 which are referable to Muelleri ; these, I believe, were taken by Mr. 

 AVilkinson, probably in the same locality from which my specimen 

 came. Last night I received from Mr. Thos. McGregor, of Perth, a 

 series of six specimens of Muelleri, taken near Ballinluig "at a high 

 altitude ;" and I have examined the specimens taken by Mr. Champion 

 at Aviemore and Horning, and they are also referable to Muelleri. I 

 am not able to say at present to which species the other specimens 

 recorded belong. 



I deferred bringing Muelleri forward till the appearance of Dr. 

 Renter's " Species Palsearctica? generis Acanthia Fabr. Latr.," which 

 is now published, and gives the characteristics of the two species ; 

 though superficially much alike, they are not difficult to separate by 

 the following characters : — 



MuELLEEi, Gniel. MoRio, Zett. 



Black, surface not very shining, elytra Black, surface very shining, almost as 



distinctly and somewhat closely though if burnished, puncturation of the elytra 



irregularly punctured on the disc. Eyes obsolete or nearly so. Eyes in the <? , 



in the (J larger, each being decidedly although large, not or scarcely wider 



wider than the interval between them. than the interval between them. Thorax 



Thorax wider, less constricted in front, narrower, more constricted in front, its 



its sides less straiglit. sides straighter. 



In the same work Dr. Renter distinguishes palustris, Douglas, 

 from pallipes by its shorter form and by the duller surface of the elytra ; 

 o^ 2^allipes he says, '' Corium pra^cipue varietatum obscuriorum f//s^z?ic/e 

 oleo micans \^ oi jjnlusfris he says, '^ Corium totum opacum \'' but at 

 the end of his description of the latter he says, " a varietati dimidiati. 

 Curt., A. pallipcdis, cui colore similis, vix nisi statura distincte breviore 

 corporequc minore distinguenda." Under these circumstances it 

 seems to me that very long series would be necessary to establish a 

 species with such slender characteristics. Many of the species 

 already known are so exceedingly closely allied, that, to my mind, they 

 would be better treated as races, but they have mostly been taken in 

 large numbers, and appear to keep their characters; possibly a study 

 of their larval forms might throw some light on their specific values. 



Dr. Renter divides Salda, or Acanthia as he calls the genus, into 

 several subgenera, of which four occur in this country. Chiloxanthus, 

 Rent., of which pilosus, Fall., is our only representative ; Sciodoptcrus, 

 Am. & Serv., of which we have three species, littoralis, Linn, (so spelt 

 by the original author), Muelleri, Gmel., and morio, Zett. ; Acanthia 



