80 COLEOPTERA. 



are variable in size, but the largest specimens of the former 

 scarcely attain the magnitude of the smallest individuals 

 of the latter. 



The usual phase of C. Atropce is black, with four rufo- 

 testaceous spots, two on each elytron, one near the base, 

 the other near the apex. These spots vary considerably in 

 size, occasionally invading nearly the whole elytron, as in 

 the individual represented by figure 5 of our plate; in some 

 specimens the basal spot is entirely obliterated, but no ex- 

 ample has yet come under my notice in w^hich the apical 

 spot is not present. 



The normal phase of C. puhescens is uniform black: a 

 party-coloured variety, however, sometimes occurs, of which 

 I have two indigenous examples before me, but in these the 

 head, thorax and elytra are of a deep red brown, the suture 

 and external margins of the latter alone black. 



In C. Atropce the thorax is relatively narrower, its sides 

 more parallel, the callus at the anterior angles is shorter and 

 more prominent, the spaces between the punctures are smooth 

 and glossy (in C. puhescens they are covered with a fine 

 reticulation M-hich renders them dull), and the basal trans- 

 verse impression is shallower, narrower, and ill defined; the 

 elytra are more ovate, the shoulders being less prominent, 

 and, finally, the punctuation throughout is conspicuously 

 finer. 



The present species was first identified by Mr. Wollaston 

 on two specimens taken near Arundel, Sussex, on Atropa 

 belladonna, by Mr. John Gray. It was shortly afterwards 

 captured in the same locality by the gentleman first-named 

 and the Rev. Hamlet Clark, and subsequently by Mr. S. 

 Stevens, and to these gentlemen I am indebted for the series 

 of examples, a careful examination of which has afforded 



