394 PHYTOPHAGA. [Psylliodes. 
On potato-flowers and various species of Solanacee@; one of our rarest species ; 
some years ago the Rey. A. Matthews obtained several specimens by sweeping iu 
Sherwood Forest; it is recorded by Stephens as ‘‘ found near London and at South- 
end by Mr, Waterhouse ;”’ in Dr. Power's collection there are two specimens, one froin 
Mr. Crotch, and the other from the Rev. Hamlet Clark. 
P. picina, Marsh. (picea, Redt.). Oblong-ovate, subelliptical, 
nigro-piceous, usually with a more or less distinct zneous reflection ; 
head smooth on vertex, forehead with a depression between eyes, 
antenne rather short and stout, ferruginous, usually darker towards 
apex ; thorax transverse, but not strongly so, convex, rather thickly 
and very finely punctured ; elytra considerably broader than thorax, 
widened to middle and thence gradually narrowed to apex, with 
moderately strong rows of punctures which become feebler behind, 
interstices obsoletely punctured ; legs ferruginous, with the posterior 
femora more or less nigro-piceous or bronze-black. L. 23-3 mm. 
Damp places ; on Lythrum salicaria, also on Cirsium palustre ; not common, but 
widely distributed ; Norwood; Snodland (Kent); West Wickham; Birdbrook ; 
Amberley, near Arundel; Henley; Norfolk; Bungay and Ditchingham, Suffolk ; 
Wicken Fen and Littlington, Cambridge; Swansea; Robins Wood, Repton ; 
Lincoln ; Yorkshire; Bowdon and Stretford, near Manchester; Liverpool district ; 
Northumberland and Durham district, rare; Scotland, Solway, Tweed, and Forth 
districts ; Ireland, Armagh, rare (Johnson); the species appears to be much rarer in 
the south than further north ; it is somewhat an exception to the usual rule of the 
Halticide, for it is often found by single specimens. 
CRYPTOSTOMATA, (fronticornia, Thoms.) 
The members of this group are distinguished by having the front 
strongly inflexed, so that the mouth is confined to the under part of the 
head ; the antennz are approximate at base and inserted high on the 
forehead between the eyes, and are more or less thickened towards apex ; 
the anterior coxal cavities are closed behind, and the anterior coxe are 
transverse and not prominent ; the posterior femora do not pass beyond 
the margin of the elytra, which often conceal almost the whole of the 
legs; there are no tibial spurs, and the last joint of the tarsi is con- 
tained within the lobes of the third joint, the claws alone projecting ; 
two tribes only are contained in the group, the Hispina and the Cassi- 
dina; the former of these is not represented in Britain (although Hispa 
atra has been erroneously stated to have occurred), and only two genera 
(Hispa, L., and Leptispa, Baly) represented by three species have been 
found in Europe; the tribe, or family, as it is considered by many 
authors, is, however, largely represented in the tropies; about sixty 
genera and several hundred species are enumerated in the Munich 
catalogue, and a considerable number of species have been added since 
its publication through the researches of Mr. Champion in Central 
America; the chief difference between the Hispina and the Cassidina 
lies in their shape, the members of the former being wedge-shaped, 
