QuediltS.'j STAL'llVLKNlbyE. 231 



Junctures close to margin. The species with black elytra, Q. vieso- 

 ■nieltiius and Q.fageti, rcseniLle Q. hrevicornis as regaids the punctualion 

 of the thorax, but have the elytra more strongly punctured than that 

 species ; Q. fageii, however, is so closely allied to Q. vn:somelinus, being 

 only distinguished by its snialhr size and the somewhat less close punctua- 

 tion of tlic elytra (a character which is not very niaikcd), that it is best 

 to consider it as a variety only, especially as intermediate forms appear 

 to occur. It is quite possible tliat exception may be taken to this 

 arrangement of the several forms, but it appears to be the most con- 

 venient in the presert state of our knowledge ; Mulsant and Rey 

 separate Q. fulijidus {= i fmncfafiis) and Q. ochripennis, Men., and 

 Q. asseda, Rey (which are both synonymous with Q. jntnrticollis), on 

 the punctuation of the siiles of the disc of thorax, but in Dr. Sharp's 

 collection there is an undoubted specimen of Q. pundicollis with the 

 punctuation of the thorax according with their description of that in 

 Q. faJgitlus, so that the character cannot be always relied upon. 



Q. ventralis, Ar. {trunricola, Fairm.). Somewhat depressed, 

 shining biaclc, or dark jDitchy black with the hind body more or le5S fer- 

 ruginous ; liead large and subquadrate in male, rounder and smaller in 

 female, very finely but visibly punctured, antennse rather short, dark with 

 the apex lighter, penultimate joints slightly transverse ; thorax slightly 

 narrowed in front, rather broader than elytra, base and posterior angles 

 rounded, smooth except for .the large punctures ; scutellum punctured ; 

 elytra slightly longer than thorax, depressed behind near suture, rather 

 strongly punctured ; hind body narrowed behind, distinctly punctured, 

 ferruginous with a more or less evident iridescent reflection ; legs dark, 

 with the last joint of the tarsi and sometimes the entire tarsi reddish, 

 L. 9-11 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body broadly and 

 semicircularly sinuate at apex. 



In the damp decayiu<» wood mould of hollow trees (ehti, lime, oak, &c.), !il-:o in 

 fungi growing on decaying trees ; rare; Greenwich, Maidstone, Esher, Lee, Chiphani, 

 Mickleham, Weyhridge, Croydon, Hampstead, Bearsted, Tonbridge ; Winchester ; 

 Kow Forest ; vSherwood Forest. 



Q. lateralis, Grav. A large, somewhat depressed species, entirely 

 shining black, with the reflexed margin of the elytra sharply testaceous ; 

 head rather large, somewhat transverse, abnost smooth ; antennae mode- 

 rately long, lighter or darker brown with base reddish testaceous, penul- 

 timate joints longer than broad, last joint acuminate ; thorax narrowed in 

 front, rather broader behind than elytra, with base and posterior angles 

 rounded, smooth and shining; scutellum impunctate ; elytra about as 

 long as thorax, strongly and asperately punctured ; hind body strongly 

 narroM'ed behind with sides slightly rounded, strongly and thickly punc- 

 tured in front, more sjiaringly Ijehind ; legs pitchy witli the knees and 

 apex of tibiae, and usually the whole tarsi reddish. L. 11 -14 mai. 



