1868.] 257 



According to the orthodox scheme of tabulation, H. prcevius and hinotatus 

 have the elytra rather longer than the thorax, whilst in H. dissimilis and qitadri- 

 punctulus the thorax and elytra are about of equal length : some little care must, 

 however, be taken, before working on the basis of this formula of separation, as the 

 proportionate difference in the length of the elytra is, at best, not very conspicuous, 

 and is, of course, less perceptible when there is any undue hiatus between the 

 thorax and scntellum, or when the compared specimens are not set evenly, and in 

 a similar manner. I may here observe that the reiteration by Erichson, in his 

 descriptions, of the longitudinal row of three punctures behind — and the puncture 

 on the inner margin of — each eye, and the two transverse punctures behind the 

 vertex, is not unlikely to mislead a beginner ; since these characters are common 

 to all the species. 



H. PR^vius, Er. (the Quedius caliginosus of Stephens), appears to be of very 

 great rarity here ; indeed, I can only at the present moment refer to two modem 

 examples of it, one in Mr. G. R. Waterhouse's collection, and another taken, in my 

 company, by Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse, in the month of January, 1863, at the bottom 

 of a hay-stack, near Highgate Ponds.* Mr. E. A. Smith, however, informs me that 

 he believes he has taken more than one example of it in nests of Formica fibliginosa 

 near Highgate ; but he cannot be sure of the identity of his insect, as he has lost 

 the specimens. This species, apart from the above-mentioned character, is to be 

 distinguished from H. disshnilis (the most abundant and widely distributed in the 

 genus, and which usually represents H. prcevius in collections,— as first remarked, 

 I believe, by Mr. E. W. Janson) by its broader head and shorter and stouter 

 antennge, the joints whereof are sub-obconic, the apical joints being not longer than 

 broad, and the basal joints pitchy-red, — and by its much more finely and closely 

 punctured abdomen and darker legs. It is shining black, with pitchy -brown elytra, 

 which are more or less rufescent at the apical margin, the reddish tone being 

 widely suffused over the sides also in one of the above-mentioned specimens. The 

 hinder margins of the segments, and the entire apex, of the abdomen are also 

 rufescent, and the legs pitchy-red, with decidedly dark tibiae. 



Kraatz (Ins. Deutschl., ii, 484), in his diagnosis of this species, says of it, 

 " eh/tris thorace paulo hrevioribus." This is, of course, a mistake ; and is, indeed, 

 contradicted by the subsequent description. 



Thomson's H. prcevius (Skand. Col. ii, 180) does not exactly agree with Erichson's 

 species, since he describes the head as ohlong-ovate (the same as in dissimilis), 

 instead of short-ovate, — the base of the antennae and the entire legs as testaceous 

 (qualified, however, by the " obscure iestaceis" of his diagnosis), instead of pitchy- 

 red, — and the elytra as " Umbo testaceo." He states, moreover, that the antennae 

 are " capite duplo longiores ;" whereas, according to Erichson, they should be 

 " capite sesqui longiores." Thomson's description seems, indeed, almost to suggest 

 H. binotatus ; especially as the large size he mentions (2^ lin.) accords better with 

 that species than with H. prwvius. 



* Tlie occasion of the capture of this specimen is impressed upon my mind by the enormous number 

 of hyhernating SteJii then occurring at the bottom of the above-mentioned hay-stack. I see trom my 

 note-book that a selection of them made by nie, and talsen home for examination, resulted in 275 speci- 

 mens, of about 13 species. My (unnuccessful) object was to findS. A7-yus ; which Mr. G. E, Waterhousa 

 had formerly obtained in that ntighbourhood. — £. C. K. 



