NEW BRITISH SPECIES NOTICED IN 1856. 71 



front, apex slightly emarginate, anterior angles obtuse de- 

 flexed, posterior angles produced, acute, closely embracing the 

 humeral angles of the elytra, the base obscurely lobed in the 

 centre, therefore indistinctly bisinuate. Elytra nearly twice 

 as long as the thorax, gently narrowed posteriorly, gradually 

 rounded at the apex, sutural stria evident, evanescent near 

 the scutellum, gradually approximating the suture with 

 which it is confounded ere it reaches the apex ; lateral 

 margins narrowly but distinctly margined throughout, i. e. 

 from the humeral to the sutural angles. In the male the 

 anterior tarsi are 5-jointed, the two first strongly di- 

 lated, the third moderately so, the fourth obconic, slender, 

 the fifth elongate, linear, supporting very small claws. In 

 the female the anterior tarsi are 4-jointed, the basal joint 

 somewhat robust, the second and third short, obconic, the 

 terminal as in the male. In both sexes the tibiae are mo- 

 derately spinulose. 



I sent examples of the insect above described to M. Jac- 

 quelin Duval, not feeling satisfied from the short diagnosis 

 then published of his A. meridionalis [Ann. Ent. Soc. Fr. 

 Ser. 3, ii. Bullet. 36 (1854)], whether or not my insect was 

 referrible thereto, apprising him of my doufits, and begging 

 that he would accept the specimens, and, in return, set these 

 doubts at rest. After the lapse of twelve months he cour- 

 teously sent me word that my insect was specifically distinct. 

 In the meanwhile, however, M. Duval's species had been 

 described by MM. Fairmaire and Laboulbene, in their 

 Faun. Ent. Franc. Col. i. 310 (1855), and figured by MM. 

 Duval and Migneaux, in the Gen. Col. Europ. (Silphides), 

 tab. 35, fig. 175; from these sources I glean that A. Wolf 

 lastoni differs from meridionalis in its shorter form, angu- 

 lated head, and in the elytra presenting no trace of transverse 

 striae. I may add that a specimen sent to Herr Kraatz of 



