122 SERRICORNIA, [ Cyphon. 
Marshy places, by beating and sweeping herbage, &c.; usually recorded as 
common and generally distributed throughout the greater part of the kingdom; Mr. 
Champion, however, mentions it as rare in the London district (Sheerness and Leith 
Hill), and it is probable that the succeeding species is often confounded with it. Dr. 
Sharp records both species as common in Scotland. Ireland, Dublin, &e. 
C. nitidulus, Thoms. ( 2 pallidiventris, Thoms.). Very like the pre- 
ceding, but, as a rule, larger, with the upper surface more shining, and the 
pubescence more scanty, and the elytra more sparingly but more strongly 
punctured; the thorax also is somewhat more narrowed in front; the 
upper surface is also said to be less convex and the colour darker, but 
these differences do not appear to be very reliable. L. 2-3 mm. 
Found under the same circumstances as the preceding, and apparently as widely 
distributed ; it appears to be the commonest species in the London district, but less 
common in the Midlands; Scotland, common, Solway, Forth, Clyde, Tay, Dee, and 
Moray districts; it is probably common in Ireland, 
The C. fuscicornis and C. pallidiventris of C. G. Thomson are re- 
spectively the females of C. coarctatus and C. nitidulus ; they are dis- 
tinguished from the male by having the elytra more thickly and finely 
punctured in the neighbourhood of the scutellum. 
C. variabilis, Thunb. (pubescens, F.; 3 nigriceps, Kies.). In size 
and general appearance this species much resembles the two preceding, 
but may be easily known by its longer and more oval form, and the 
absence of raised lines on the elytra, which are, moreover, less depressed 
on dise and more finely punctured, and have the shoulders much less 
marked ; the prevailing colour is reddish-testaceous above, and fuscous 
beneath, but is very variable, the suture and sides of elytra being often 
more or less obscurely darker ; the head, as.a rule, is dark, at all events 
on vertex, and the antenne are dark with light base or light with dark 
apex ; the pubescence is rather long and thick. L. 2-2} mm. 
Marshy places, by sweeping grass, &c.; also at the roots of grass, and in moss and 
flood refuse ; common and generally distributed throughout the kingdom. 
The C. nigriceps of Kiesenwetter appears to be the male of this insect, 
which differs in being rather smaller and shorter, with the elytra more 
sparingly punctured ; the C. nigriceps of Dr. Sharp’s catalogue (Ist 
edition), however, is a different insect, and was afterwards named by 
him C. punctipennis. 
C. punctipennis, Sharp (nigriceps, Brit. Cat., nec Thoms. et Kies.). 
Allied to C. variabilis, but shorter, broader, and more convex, and dis- 
tinguished from all the varieties of this species by its extremely short, 
fine, and scanty pubescence ; the elytra, as a whole, are evidently more 
sparingly punctured, although around the scutellum they are more 
closely punctured ; in C. variabilis the punctuation is even; the elytra, 
also, are shorter and broader in proportion thanin this latter species, 
and haye the shoulders more strongly marked; the colour, as a rule, 
