98 HETEROMERS. [ Meloé. - 
Grassy banks, &c.; in the vicinity of nests of Anthophora; very rare; Southend 
(Smith and Gorhain) ; Prittiewell, Essex (Power) ; meadows near Margate (Stephens); 
Broadstairs (TI. Wood) ; Tavistock and Exmouth, Devon (Stephens) ; a specimen 
was some years ago brought to a friend of mine from a southern locality by one of his 
clerks, who said that it was abundant in the place in which he discovered it; as he 
was not a Coleopterist he only brought back one specimen ; the species like J. cicatri- 
cosus is probably gregarious. 
IM. brevicollis, Panz. A very distinct species, short, broad and 
convex, black: blue, or dark-blue, or nigro-violaceous, glabrous and rather 
shining ; head large, rather deeply and diffusely punctured, antennz 
short and stout, thickened towards apex, with joints 4-8 transverse; 
thorax very short, much smaller than head, strongly transverse, with 
sides and angles rounded, diffusely punctured, strongly depressed towards 
base, which is broadly emarginate, disc with a fine central furrow ; 
elytra coarsely, rugosely and rather shallowly sculptured ; abdomen very 
finely rugose ; legs rather stout, blue black. L. 10-20 mm. 
Sandy heaths; very rare; Dartford (Spiers); Ockham Heath, near Ripley 
(Surrey) ; Christchurch, Tavistock, and Windsor (Stephens); Frensham, near 
Boundstone (Surrey), in May, Reigate Heath, Faversham, Plymouth and Cornwall 
(Power); Chobham (Saunders) ; Weymouth (Harris) ; Glanvilles Wootton (Dale) ; 
Plymouth (Bignell). 
SITARIS, Laireille. 
This genus contains thirteen species, which, with one exception, are 
found in Europe ; one occurs in Algeria; the following are their chief 
characteristics :—-head large, antenne rather short and stout and gradually 
thickened towards apex, inserted before eyes; behind the eyes, which 
are transverse and slightly emarginate, the head is a little dilated and 
then suddenly constricted ; thorax narrower than elytra ; scutellum large ; 
elytra broad at base, but becoming rapidly narrow and attenuated, 
strongly divaricate and disclosing the wings which are ample; legs 
moderately long. 
The transformations of this genus are very interesting, and have been 
earefully worked out in the case of S. muralis by M. Fabre (Ann. des 
Sci. Nat. sér. 4, tome vii.) ; his figures and the chief part of his de- 
scription will be found in Sir John Lubboek’s work on “the Origin and 
Metamorphoses of Insects,” (Nature Series, 1874) pp. 30-33; the 
changes appear to be much the same as in the case of Meloé ; the 
small larva, which, in its active state, has to fasten itself upon the bee, 
of which the insect is a parasite, differs very considerably from the small 
Meloé larva, being shaped like an elongate peg-top, with the greatest 
width at the metathoracic segment ; the head is large and subquadrate, 
and the antenne, which are very short in Meloé, are very long and slender; 
the apex of the body is terminated by two long and fine sete ; the legs are 
shorter than in the larva of Meloé, but are evidently formed on the same 
analogy, their inner side being set with strong sete, and each of the 
femora bearing a fine seta, which is almost as long as the femur and 
