182 MADEIRAN COLEOPTERA. 
summer of 1855. Its uniformly dark hue (its legs and base of 
antenne being alone more or less piceo-testaceous), in conjunction 
with its rather large size and regularly punctulated head and pro- 
thorax, will suffice to distinguish it from the other Aleochare here 
enumerated. 
513. Aleochara nitida. 
Aleochara nitida, Grav., Col. Micropt. 97 (1802). 
, Erich., Gen. et Spec. Staph. 168 (1839). 
ae » Woll., Ins. Mad. 560 (1854). 
— — , Kraatz, Nat. der Ins. Deutsch. ii, 105 (1856). 



Inhabits Madeira, Porto Santo, and the Dezerta Grande ; occurring 
principally in the dung of cattle, at nearly all altitudes. 
514. Aleochara binotata. 
A. sublinearis subsenescenti-atra nitidissima fortius pubescens, pro- 
thorace in medio profundius biseriatim punctato, elytris profunde 
punctatis, snmgulo maculé magna rufo-testaced (ad angulum inter- 
num sitaé et plus minus suffusi) lete ornato, antennis brevibus, 
basi pedibusque piceis, tarsis piceo-testaceis, 
Long. corp. lin. 1-13. 
Aleochara binotata, Kraatz, Nat. der Ins. Deutsch. ii. 106 (1856). 
A. similar to the A. nitida, but (on the average) rather smaller, a 
trifle more subzenescent (or a little less intensely black), and with 
the pubescence perhaps somewhat denser and paler. Head and 
prothorax more deeply punctured than in that insect, but with the 
same character of punctuation. Hlytra, likewise, a little more 
coarsely punctured than in the A. wtida; and with the apical 
patch generally larger, brighter, and more suffused. Abdomen 
somewhat more thickly punctured than in that insect. Antenne 
a little shorter, with their base piceous. Legs altogether a trifle 
more piceous, and with the feet more evidently testaceous. 
The present Alcochara approaches very closely to the A. nitida ; 
and it may perhaps be questionable whether it is more than a mere 
phasis of that insect. It can be usually separated therefrom, how- 
ever, without much difficulty ; and it is to Dr. Kraatz that I am in- 
debted for pointing out to me its characters (such as they are) in one 
of my Porto-Santan specimens. It is stated by him to occur in the 
north of Germany: and I first captured it in the Madeiras during the 
spring of 1848,—when I obtained a single example in the island of 
Porto Santo, in company with the A. nitida. That specimen, how- 
ever, was mixed-up with my series of the latter, and was not sepa- 
rated therefrom until quite recently,—when the examination of a 
fresh supply of both species (collected in Porto Santo, in 1855,— 
