134 sTAPiiYLiNiDji:. iHomalota. 



epecieSj it appears the best course, in order to avoid confusion, to drop the 

 name of melanaria altogether, until, at all events, the question is more 

 fully settled. 



The species may be found in abundance in almost any hotbed, dung- 

 heap, or heap of fermenting vegetable rubbish, and may at once be dis- 

 tinguished by its dull black, almost pitchy, colour and clear yelloAV elytra, 

 which have a dark triangular black patch about scutellum ; the pubes- 

 cence is very tine and thick_, as also is the punctuation, the hind body as 

 Avell as the front parts being finely and evenly punctured throughout ; 

 the head is broad and short ; the antennae are rather long and stout, of 

 a pitchy, or yellowish-pitchy, colour, lighter at base, joints 2-3 rather 

 long, fourth slightly transverse, 5-10 nearly equal not or very little 

 transverse, eleventh long, pointed, longer than the two preceding together ; 

 thorax at base as broad as elytra, convex, very transverse, strongly 

 narrowed towards the front ; elytra strongly transverse, not markedly 

 longer than thorax, coloured as above, the triangular dark patch some- 

 times reaching to apex ; hind body thickly pubescent, sides furnished 

 with long outstanding black setse ; legs clear yellow, the intermediate 

 tibise only with a long seta in middle. L. 3-^-- 3| mm. 



Male with the hind margin of dorsal plate of seventh segment of 

 hind body indistinctly emarginate, ventral plate a little produced in 

 middle, female with the ventral plate rather deeply emarginate in middle, 

 the emargination furnished with pale cilia. 



lu haystack refuse, dung, hotbeds, &c. ; extremely abundant throughout the 

 kingdom. 



K. testudinea, Er. (fcemata, KoL, tenera, Sahib., Coprothassa 

 testudinea, Thorns., Colpodota teshidinea, Muls. et Key {melanaria, 

 Mann., teste H. E. W.)). Black, with the elytra dark testaceous or 

 brownish with a dark triangular patch about scutellum, and with the sides 

 also darker ; the apex of hind body is obscurely pitchy ; from H. sordida 

 it is distinguished by its smaller size, darker colour, stronger punctuation, 

 and less developed antennae ; it is also allied to H. aterrima, but cannot 

 Avell be confounded with that species, by reason of its considerably 

 larger size, stouter antennae, coarser punctuation, and quite differently 

 coloured elytra ; head broad and short ; antennae black, pilose, with basal 

 joint pitchy, third joint a little longer than second, 4-6 about as long as 

 broad, 7-10 very slightly transverse, eleventh as long as the two pre- 

 ceding together ; thorax as broad as, or broader than elytra, convex, 

 much narroAved in front, with exserted setae ; elytra scarcely longer than 

 thorax, rather strongly and closely, and somewhat rugosely, punctured ; 

 hind body strongly narrowed to apex, closely and distinctly punctured, 

 the sixth rather more sparingly, with numerous outstanding setae which 

 are more numerous at apex ; legs pitchy testaceous, middle and posterior 

 tibiae each with a long seta in middle. L. 2 1-3 mm. 



IMale with the ventral plate of seventh segment of hind body narrow 



