Microfjiossa.'] staphylinid,e. 25 



piteliy witli apex rcdilisU. somutimos eutin^ly reddish with scuicsUuiu 

 and sides darker ; liind b(3dy finely and thickly punctured, a little more 

 diffusely behind ; Ic^^s fcrru^dnous or reddish testaceous. L. 3| mm. 



Male with the ventral pbite of seventh se^i^nnent of hind body sinuate 

 at the sides and produced in an angle in middle of its apical border. 



In the runs of Formica fuUginosa ; rare, but probably often overlooke'l, as it 

 (loul)Ii's itself up iunl will lie for a quiirter of an hour wit) out stirrinj,'; Mickieliani ; 

 Binlbrook, Essex ; IJci^^ate (sandpits) ; Weston-super-Mare (Cmteh) : Dr. Power has 

 taken it in considerable numbers by carefully lilowiiij; away the sand, and watcliiu" 

 the aut-ruus : the species is rather widely distributed in Frauce. 



OXYPODA, Mannerheim. 



The species belonging to this genus are chiefly characterized l)y the 

 very long first joint of the posterior tarsi ; they are often narrowed l)otli 

 in front and beliind, preseriting a fusiform or, as it has sometimes been 

 called, a " pisciform " or fish-like appearance ; the thorax is always broad 

 at the base ; the hind body is 'almost always strongly narrowed behind, 

 and has the three first segments usually more or less plainly longi- 

 tudinally impressed at base ; about one hundred and sixty species have 

 been described ; these are chiefly found in the European and adjacent 

 regions ; one or two, however, have been described from North America, 

 eight from Central America, one fronr Brazil, and several from Chili. 



The genus is one of the most difficult of all the genera of Coleoptera, 

 and the species as a whole are much harder to distinguish than those 

 belonging to the genus Homalota. Thomson and Mulsant and Eey 

 divide the genus up into six or seven sub-genera, but for actual Avorking 

 these appear to be very confusing : the diflerences between some of the 

 species are so very slight and so entirely comparative that it is almost 

 impossible to tabulate them satisfactorily ; the comparative thickening of 

 the antennae, the relative length of thorax and elytra, and the attenuated 

 or subparallel hind body, the characters on which the chief divisions and 

 sub-genera are founded, are in some cases exceedingly unsatisfactory, and 

 can only be really employed with certainty in the case of live or very 

 well set specimens ; the sections, therefore, that are adopted below must 

 he regarded as provisional, and the different species "must be worked 

 from the detailed descriptions, which have been made to a certain extent 

 comparative. 



I. Hind body gradually and usually strongly narrowed behind ; body fusiform, nar- 

 rowed in front and behind; third joint of antenna; a little long^er than, or about as 

 long as, second ; elytra longer than thorax ; size larger (Sf-SI mm.). 



Section I. (Sub-Gen. Oxypoda, i. sp.) 



II. Hind body more or less plainly narrowed to apex ; body more or less distinctly 

 fusiform; third joint of antennaj shorter than second; elytra not shorter than 



thorax ; size smaller. 

 1. Elytra Ij times as long as thorax; length 82- mm. 



Section II. (Sub-Gen. ]>Iycetodrepa, Thorns.). 



