230 iiYDROPHiLiD^. [Berosus. 



the species is easily distinguished by tlie very distinct spines at the 

 apex of elytra. L. 4|^-G mm. 



Local; brackish ponds and ditches; Sheerness; Sh.eppy; Soufchsea; Harwich; 

 Rye ; Brighton ; Eastbourne ; Seaford ; Lymington Salterns ; Hunstanton ; Scar- 

 borough ; not found in the north of England or in Scotland. 



This species is variaLle as regards size; in Dr. Power's collection 

 there are two or three very small specimens. 



B. sig-naticollis, Charp {cpriceps, Curt.). Oval, very convex ; head 



hronze-green or coppery, iridescent, closely and strongly punctured ; 

 thorax brownish-testaceous with a large dark band in middle, rather 

 diffusely punctured, with an impunctate central line winch is obscurely 

 testaceous and separates the dark band indistinctly into two parts ; 

 elytra considerably broader than thorax, with rather strong punctured 

 stride, interstices punctured, dark brown with punctures darker; legs 

 ferruginous, femora darker in middle ; underside black. L. 5-5| mm. 



Ponds and ditches inland and near the coast ; local, but not uncommon ; Wimbledon, 

 Eslier, Woking, Lee, Wandsworth, Earlswood, Whitstable; Cambridgeshire Feus; 

 Devonshire; Swansea; Askham Bog; not recorded from the north of England or 

 from Scotland. 



B. luridus, L. Smaller than the preceding, with the punctuation 

 of thorax closer and stronger, and the dark band more plainly marked 

 and sometimes covering the greater part of the disc ; the testaceous 

 margins are lighter and more clearly defined; the striae of the elytra 

 are stronger and more coarsely punctured, and the legs are of a somewhat 

 lighter colour. L. 4-4^ mm. 



Ponds and ditches ; local ; Esher, Lee, Lewisham, Earlswood, and other places 

 in the London district ; Deal ; Hastings ; Cambridge ; Scotland, rare, Solway and 

 Moray districts. 



B. aifinis, Erullc. In size and shape this species rather closely 

 resembles the preceding, but differs in not having the dark patch on 

 thorax separated by a narrow obscurely testaceous line, and by the 

 narrow and finely punctured striae of elytra and flat interstices. L. 

 ^-il mm. 



Local, but sometimes abundant where it occurs ; ponds and ditches inland and near 

 the coast ; Phnnstcad, Lee, Gravesend, Sheerness, Kainham ; Lymington Salterns, 

 very common; Hastings; Devonshire; Swansea; Liverpool district. 



XiIBINEBZUS, Leach. 



The Limnebii are small insects very much resembling in miniature the 

 larcfc Hydropliilus jjiceus; the elytra are truncate or almost truncate at 

 apex, and the last two segments of the abdomen arc furnished Avith 

 hairs ; they live in stagnant or sloAvly moving water, attached to aquatic 

 plants; they are very poor swimmers; according to Miger the larva is 

 terrestrial, and is carnivorous like so many other of the HijdroiMUdce; 

 the males are usually smaller than the females, and differ from them in 



