Plate XVIII. 



Fig. 153. MORDELLISTENA ABDOMINALIS, Fab. \F. Mordellidre. G. Mordellis- 

 tena, Costa.'] (Mordella abdominalis, Curtis.) 



Elongate, pitchy black, with a silky pubescence, thovax and abdomen orange yellow. Head 

 triangular, nutant, convex ; parts of the mouth, and base and apex of antennaj pale yellow, the 

 latter reddish brown in the middle. Thorax transverse, narrowed in front, sides slightly rounded ; 

 base bi-sinuate, central lube obtuse ; posterior angles rounded ; with a dense long depressed 

 golden-yellow pubescence. Elytra nearly as broad at the base as the thorax, sides nearly parallel, 

 exceedingly finely and thickly punctate, with a close short depressed brown pubescence. Abdomen 

 reddish yellow ; pygidium acuminate black, reddish yellow at the base. Anterior legs reddish 

 yellow ; intermediate reddish bro^vn ; posterior pitchy black. Length, 2^-34 lines. 



Not common ; but widely distributed in the south. 



Fig. 154. SITARIS MURALIS, Forster.* [_F. Meloidse. G. Sitaris, Lair.'] (S. hume- 

 ralis, Fab.,\ Curtis.) 



Elongate, black, slightly shining, base of elytra yellow. Head triangular, thickly and coarsely 

 punctate behind, rather sparsely in front, interstices shining ; antenna- of the male about four- 

 fifths of the entire insect, of the female a little longer than the head and thorax. Thorax sub- 

 quadrate ; sides rounded in front, sinuate behind ; posterior angles obtuse ; very thickly and 

 coarsely punctate on the disc, rather sparsely at the sides, central longitudinal channel deep behind, 

 obsolete in front. Wcutellum punctate at the base, nearly smooth at the apex. Elytra broader 

 than the thorax at the base, rather coarsely and rugulosely punctate, pitchy black, the base yellow. 

 Legs pitchy black, tibia; and tarsi frei|uen'tly reddish brown. Length, .5-6 1 lines. 



Not common, but widely distributed in the south. Found on old walls inhabited by Antho- 

 phora retusa, in whose cells the larva resides. 



Fig. 155. MELOE BREVICOLLIS, Panzer, Curtis. [_F. Meloida;. G. Meloe, L.] 



Elongate, black, rather shining, with a blue tint. Head transverse, coarsely, deeply and 

 sparsely punctate ; antenna- short, robust, thickened towards the apex. Thorax transverse, 

 narrowed in front, slightly so behind, sides rounded, base broadly emarginate ; coarsely, deeply, 

 and sparsely punctate,"with a fine central longitudinal impressed line. Elytra coarsely, ruggedly, 

 and confluently punctate. Abdomen above black, sub-opaque, e.xceedingly finely punctate ; each 

 segment having in the centre a slightly shining, bluish, thickly punctate space ; beneath shining 

 blue- black, rather finely sparsely rugulosely punctate. Legs short, robust, claws pitchy. Length, 

 4-9 lines. 



Rare ; near Ripley, Surrey ; Windsor ; Christchurch ; Tavistock ; and near Plymouth. 



Fig. 156. OSPHYA BIPUNCTATA, Fab. (Female.) \F. Melandryidce. G. Osphya, 

 Illiger.] (Nothus bimaculatus, Curtis.) 



Elongate, reddish yellow, clothed with a dense short grey pubescence, head and thorax rufous, 

 two spots on the crown of the head, antennse except the three basal joints, two large patches on 

 the thorax, tips of elytra, of thighs, and of tibiie, black. Head deflexed, punctate ; palpi dusky 

 at the tip ; eyes deeply notched, black. Thorax transverse, all its angles and the sides_ rounded, 

 base trimcate, finely punctate. Elytra wider than the thorax, sides nearly parallel, thickly and 

 finely punctate. Posterior thighs slender. Length, 4-4i lines. 



Rare. On whitethorn blossoms, Monk's Wood, Hunts ; Windsor ; and Weston-on-the Green. 



Fig. 157. COXOPALPUS TESTACEUS, Oliv., Curtis. [F. MelandryidEe. G, Cono- 

 palpus, Gyll.] 



Elongate, reddish yellow, rather thickly and minutely punctate, clothed with a sparse shining 

 depressed yellowish-grey pubescence. Head small convex, deflexed, rather thickly and finely 



* Necydalis muralis, Fnrstcr, Nova* Species Insectnnmi Cenfitria I. -48 (1771). 

 + Necydalis humeralis, Fub. Sysl. Ent. 209, 4 (1775).J 



35 



