SMYNTHURUS. 107 



otlier early authors. Our brown Smynthuri appear to 

 form one species only. 



At first I was disposed to think that Geoff'roy's 

 P. fusca was only a variety of his P.fusco nigra. Some 

 specimens of Papirius fuscus, however, agree in colour 

 pretty well with his description, and he may, perhaps, 

 have thought it not worth while to mention the differ- 

 ence in the antennee. Several of the early writers 

 evidently had two brown Smynthuri under their eyes, 

 and, as already mentioned, we have, I think, in this 

 country only one large brown species belonging to the 

 true genus Smyntliuriis. On the other hand, P. fuscus 

 varies in colour from soot colour to brown and purple. 

 It is also very common, and unlikely therefore to have 

 been overlooked. 



Moreover, Geoffrey describes his P. fusco nigra as 

 " lisse," and as possessing " trois ou quatres taches 

 irregulieres, de couleur de rouille ou de fauve," while of 

 P. fusca he says it is " toute de couleur brune " and 

 " nullement brillante ni luisante." JSTow S. fuscus is 

 smooth and somewhat shining, and is marked with 

 paler patches ; while Papirius fuscus is uniform in 

 colour and its surface is not smooth and shining, but 

 velvety. 



Under these circumstances I propose to abandon 

 my name of 8. Buslcii, and to describe the species 

 under the name of P. fuscus. 



Our fourth large and common species is P. ornatus. 

 It was apparently unknown to Geoffrey, Linnaeus, and 

 Schrank. Nor is the S. signatus of Fabricius, which 

 is the P. fusco nigra of Geoffrey and the P. atra of 

 Linnasus. 



Smynthurus aquaticus, Bourlet. 



Smynthurus aquaticus, Bourlet. Mem. Soc. Roy. Doitai, 1842. 



— — Gervais. His. Ins. Apteres. 



— — Nicolet. Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1847. 



Bourlet's description of this species is as follows : 

 Blanc plus ou moins teinte de jaunatre ; abdomen 



