86 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



not acute {fig- 4. 6. anterior tarsus of Chlaenius). The legs are 

 generally long, and the thorax often narrower than the abdomen. 



Amongst the British genera the following are most worthy of 

 notice : — 



Division 1. The species of the genus Pogonus are of small size, 

 not exceeding one-third of an inch in length. They are found in the 

 salt marshes bordering upon the coast, which are, during the winter, 

 entirely covered with water. Mr. Curtis has published some interest- 

 ing observations upon these insects in his BriL Ent. p. ■iT-j commu- 

 nicated by Mr. Burrell. 



The Rev. F. W. Hope has informed me that he has noticed the 

 subpellucid margins of the thorax and abdomen of Calathus rufangu- 

 lus to be slightly phosphorescent, which he conceives must have arisen 

 from the insect feeding upon dead carrion lying on the shores of the 

 Thames, whence the luminosity may be caused by the decomposition 

 of the putrid matter which the animal had eaten. Perhaps, however, 

 it is more probable that the luminosity arose from some of the matter 

 in the midst of which the animal had been feeding still adhering to 

 the surface of the body. Mr. Curtis has given a beautiful figure of a 

 remarkable species of this genus, under the name of C. latus Dej. ; 

 but the C. latus Linn, is regarded by M. Brulle as synonymous with 

 the C. cisteloides, whilst the C. latus Dej. is the C. punctipennis 

 Germar. 



In the genus Sjihodrus the males have the trochanters of the hind 

 legs produced into a long spine (^fig- 4. 9.). The typical species is 

 one of the largest Harpalideous insects, and is found in dark cellars 

 and outhouses. 



The species of the genus Agonum are very numerous ; they fre- 

 quent damp situations; some, as the A. marginatum^ 6-punctatum, 

 and fulgens, are of brilliant metallic colours, but the majority are 

 black or obscure. They do not exceed one- third of an inch in 

 length. 



The genera Broschus and Miscodera, in their pedunculated abdo- 

 mens, considerably resemble the Scaritides. The type of the former 

 genus is found upon the coast ; that of the latter has the appearance 

 of a large Dyschirius, but the anterior legs are not palmated ; the 

 structure of the antenna^, trophi, and tarsi (having three dilated joints 

 in the males) is also indicative of its situation amongst the Harpalides, 

 as suggested by Lalreille, in the Rtgne. Animal. This insect has 



