Melunotus. | SERRICORNIA. 97 
In decaying wood ; Tonbridge (Horner) ; Llangollen (Chappell) ; there were speci- 
mens also in Mr. Trueman’s Sherwvod Forest. collection ; Scotiand, Tay district, 
Aviemore and Rannoch (Foxcroft, &c.) 
&THOUS, Eschscholtz. 
This genus contains upwards of two hundred species, whieh are 
almost entirely confined to the temperate and cold countries of the 
northern hemisphere; of these one hundred and eleven are found in 
Europe, of which only eight oceur in Britain; two or three of these are 
very rare, but A. hemorrhoidalis (= A. ruficaudis, Steph.) is one of 
our commonest beetles, and its larva, which does not call for any par- 
ticular remark, sometimes commits considerable ravages in pastures and 
cornfields. 
The larva of A. rhombeus is described and figured by Schiddte (Part v. p. 523, 
pl. ix. fig. 12) ; it is less parallel-sided than is usually the case with its allies, and has 
the segments of the abdomen a little narrowed in front and behind, so that the sides 
are not even ; it is, however, chiefly remarkable for the fact that the dorsal scuta of 
all the segments, with the exception of the prothorax, which is longer and not so 
broad as the following, are very coarsely punctured, the punctures being large and 
often more or less confluent ; the mandibles are very stropg and projecting, and the 
ninth abdominal segment is large, armed with short blunt teeth at sides, and termi- 
nated by two short bifurcate cerci; the colour is pale yellowish, with the head and 
dorsal scuta fuscous. The larva is carnivorous, and lives in decaying trunks of ash 
and beech, where it devours the larve of Lepture and other beetles. 
The British species may be divided as follows ; 1t is, however, rather 
hard, in one or two cases, to describe the differences very distinetly, as 
they vary considerably in colour, and the relative lensth of the joints 
of the antenne and tarsi appears in some of the species to be rather a 
misleading character, if too much relied upon :— 
I. Antenne serrate from the third joint; second joint 
small; size larger. 
i. Thorax broadly emarginate at apex, with posterior 
angles carinate, and not, or scarcely, divaricate. 
1, Upper surface brown ; third joint of antenne fully 
as long, or longer than fourth .°. . . . .) 
2. Upper surface deep shining black ; third joint of 
antenne slightly shorter than fourth : ; 
ii. Thorax truncate at apex, with posterior angles not 
carinate, strongly divaricate Oe ORG. | SRS Se 
II. Antenne scarcely serrate, almost filiform; size 
smailer. 
i, Anterior coxx narrowly distant; male more elongate 
and parallel-sided than the female, and with the 
thorax more rectangular and longer in proportion 
to its breadth. 
1. Upper surface duller ; punctuation of thorax closer 
and thicker; third joint of antennz about three 
times as long as second; third joint of tarsi almost 
concealed); “sizeisimallers ~ sa94 0.4 er values Sb a aces LONGICOLLIS, OJ, 
2. Upper surface more shiny; punctuation of 
thorax less close; third joint of antennxz about 
VOL. IV. H 
A. RHOMBEUS, OJ. 
A. NIGER, L. 
A. UNDULATUS, De G. 
