152 STAniTLijyui.E. [EiiccjJialus. 



remarkable for their peculiar broad thick ovate form, and the very stron;^ 

 raised margins of the hind body : they have the power of turning tlie 

 hind body over the wliole of the rest of the body and thus enclosing 

 it within these raised margins ; in this position they form a sort of ball 

 and may easily be mistaken for small species of Agatlddium; the genus is 

 perhaps more closely connected with Oyrophccna than with any other, 

 but diii'ers in many important j)oints, notably in its shorter thorax and 

 much shorter elytra, and in the fact that the intermediate coxte are 

 more widely distant. 



E. complicans, Westw. Of a .short, thickset, oval form, alnin.st 

 smooth, shining black, with the elytra usuall}' reddish towards suture ; 

 head much narrower than thorax, antennae very short, testaceous or 

 reddish, penultimate joints strongly transverse ; thorax very transverse, 

 but much narrower in front than at base where it is three times as bioad 

 as long ; elytra about as long as thorax^ very transverse, almost smooth 

 or very finely shagreened ; hind body with sides rounded and nari'owed 

 behind, very strongly margined ; legs ferruginous, posterior ieniora some- 

 times darker. L. 2 nira. 



INlale with the seventh dorsal segment of hind body furnished on each 

 side with a spiniform tooth. 



In moss, flood refuse, &c., also by sweeping; usunlly cousidcred rare, but it is very 

 widely distributed, and I have records of about forty localities for it in Britnin, iiud 

 ciinld doubtless obtain more; Loudon district, general ; Hastings ; Glanvilles Wootton ; 

 Birmingham district, llepton, Needwood and Sherwood Forests and other localii ies : 

 Huiistaiitou ; Cliureb Strettou ; Scarborough; Manchester; not recorded from tlie 

 Koi'tlunnberland district ; Scotland, scarce, among moss, Lowlands, Tweed, Forth, 

 Solway, and Moray districts: Ireland, Belfast, Galway, Dublin, and Portmarnock. 



In consequence of the very peculiar appearance of this insect it is 

 seldom passed over, as it is quite unlike any other of the British Staphy- 

 linidse ; it therefore naturally appears to be more widely distributed than 

 many others Avhich, from their similaiity to comnion species, are 

 neglected, and perhaps in many cases considered very rare, whereas in 

 time to come they may be found to be comparatively common. 



BRACKZDA, Key. 



This genus was formed to include the anomalous Homalafa nailia, 

 which is plainly allied to Eiireplialus on the one hand, and to Giji-o- 

 2>lu<ma on the other ; it is abundantly distinct from Ilomalofa by reason 

 of its short thick form, prominent eyes, more widely separated inter- 

 mediate coxee, and above all by the intermediate tarsi being 4-jointed, 

 a fact which seems to have been overlooked : J3. notha has a little in 

 common with Hvmaluta crlhrafa, but it seems probable that this latter 

 species may form the type of a separate genus; when alive it doubles 

 up the hind body over the head in exactly the same manner as Ence- 

 2'haluis couqilicaus. The genus now com}uises one European, three 



