NEW BRITISH SPECIES, ETC., IN 1873. 95 



and pubescent ; the antennae red or pitchy-red ; the 

 body more shining, more or less metalhc. 



a. The anterior tibije longitudinally keeled beneath ; 



the keel smooth (z. e.,not denticulate), approxi- 

 mated to the outer margiu, ending in an acute 

 toothlet at the base of the third marsrinal 

 tooth (which is scarcely inflexed), enlarged 

 outwardly in a curve before this toothlet ; the 

 (hind) trochanters and femora toothed, with 

 teeth equal in size. . . stercorarius. 



b. The anterior tibiae altogether as in G.spiniger ; 



the body shining above, more or less brightly 

 metallic, especially at the margins; the scutel- 

 lum very often bluish. . . foveatus. 



Baron Harold considers Marsham's spiniger to be " ganz 

 unzweifelhaft charakterisirt" by that author's mention of its 

 entirely black colour, fuscous or pitchy funiculus and 

 blackish club, of its having two stout teeth to the posterior 

 femora, of which the outer tooth is the larger, and of its 

 anterior tibiae having the 3rd tooth from the apex more 

 prominent and straight (" 2/?^ea?z;" Harold). He might 

 have added, its sub-punctate elytral stride. These charac- 

 ters (mixed up with others quite irrelevant and superficial) 

 certainly at least suggest some of the minor and one of the 

 major points of G. mesoleius ; but others not mentioned by 

 V. Harold {e. g., the 7-toothed front tibise, which are stated 

 to be 6-toothed in stercorarius ; — both species being alike 

 in this respect), do not corroborate the idea of the identity 

 of the two ; and it must not be forgotten that the really 

 important characters are quite ignored by Marsham ; and 



