AcupalpUS.] ADEPHAGA. ' 39 



exiguus does to lurkhis ; the entire upper surface is pitchy, antennae 

 except first joint dark, legs pitchy or reddish, brown : as a rule the 

 posterior angles of the thorax are coarsely and deeply punctured. L. 

 3j mm. 



Marshy places ; ou heaths, in Sphagnum ; also on the coast at roots of plants near 

 the shore; rare. Esher ; Chobham ; Woolstou, Hants j Bournemouth, not uncom- 

 mon in a sandy ravine near the coast a little to the west of the town ; taken by 

 Dr. Power at Horsell, Woking, Weybridge, Wimbledon, and Farnham. 



A. meridianus, L. Head and thorax Llack, the latter occasionally 

 brownish red, but always unicolorous, antennae rather variable in colour, 

 but lighter at base ; thorax a little longer than broad, contracted behind, 

 posterior angles very blunt, deeply punctured at base, with strong central 

 furrow ; elytra oblong, very slightly widest behind middle, black, with 

 the base and suture more or less widely testaceous ; underside black, 

 legs testaceous. L. 3-3 1 mm. 



Damp places, at roots of grass, &c. ; also at the bottoms of haystacks in winter; 

 very common and widely distributed over the midland and southern districts of 

 England, but not recorded from the extreme north, or from Scotland or Ireland. 



A. consputus, Duft. (Anthraciis, Mots.). Elongate, narrow; head 

 dark, antennae long, fuscous, with the first two joints yellow ; thorax 

 reddish, sometimes darker on disc, somewhat cordiform, side margins 

 rather strong, posterior angles right angles ; elytra long, sides somewhat 

 parallel, deeply striated, lighter or darker testaceous, with a large oblong 

 bluish-black patch behind, extending more or less upwards, but always 

 leaving base, suture, and margins pale ; underside black, except apex of 

 abdomen, which is testaceous ; logs testaceous. L. 4 mm. 



Dark specimens of this species may easily be confounded with Badlsier 

 .todalis, which it closely resembles ; the shape of the thorax will separate 

 it from all other species of Acupalpus ; A. mer id ianu>^, indead, hecivs sx 

 slight resemblance to it in this respect, but may be immediately distin- 

 guished by its shorter and broader elytra, shorter antennae, and dark, 

 unicolorous thorax, and by the deeply punctured base of the latter. 



Marshy places, in moss, &c. ; rather common in Kent and Surrey ; Lee, Chatham, 

 Sheerness, DnUvich, Barnes, Wimbledon, Weybridge, Battersea ; formerly abundant 

 at Notting Hill, and recorded from Windsor and Dorchester; apparently almost 

 confined to the south and south-eastern counties of England, but it has been taken by 

 Dr. Power at Lytham in Lancashire, and may have been overlooked, as it is very 

 local. 



(A. derelictus, Daws. Tliis insect, described by Dawson (Geod. 

 Hrit. 159) as pitchy black, with thorax reddish pitchy with its margins 

 testaceous, and legs testaceous, is said by him to be about tlie size of 

 A. dorsalis, but rather wider ; it is also, he says, allied to A. hnnmipes, 

 but is broader, paler, less convex, witli the base of the tliorax depressed, 

 and th(i basal foveae entirely smooth and impunctate. One specimen 

 only has occurred, taken by ^Ir. F. Smith at Plumstead, Kent, many 

 years ago, and this, if it is yet in existence, still remains unprjue. In all 



