264 STAPHYLINIDiE. [PhilonthtlS . 



longer than broad ; thorax very shining, scarcely narrowed, in front ; 

 elytra about as long as thorax, sparingly punctured ; hind body rather 

 finely and sparingly punctured ; legs pitch-black, anterior tarsi dilated in 

 both sexes. L. 7-8 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body deeply and 

 angularly excised, the excision being fvirnished with a membranous 

 border behind. 



Under stones and moss in damp places; Netting Hill and Hampstead (Power) ; also 

 recorded from Devonshire; it appears to be a rare species in France as well as in Eng- 

 land ; the smaller size and less closely punctured elytra will at once distinguish it from 

 all the preceding species of Section II. 



P. scutatus, Er. Shining black, with the head and thorax very 

 shining, slightly greenish-bronze, and the elytra bronze with a slight but 

 more pronounced greenish reflection, which, however, is occasionally 

 almost absent ; head subovate, narrower than thorax, antennae black, 

 rather long and scarcely thickened towards apex, with the penultimate 

 joints not, or hardly, transverse ; thorax a little narrowed in front, very 

 finely and sparingly punctured, with the usual two dorsal rows of four 

 punctures ; elytra a little longer than thorax, finely, thickly, and some- 

 what asperately punctured ; hind body finely and thickly punctured ; 

 legs pitchy/ with tarsi and .some times tibiae lighter; anterior tarsi slightly 

 dilated. L. 9-11 mm. 



Male with the fifth ventral segment of hind body prolonged in a broad 

 plate which covers the sixth segment. 



In moss; rare; a northern species; Northumberland and Cumberland (Bold); 

 Scotland, very local, Tweed, Forth, Tay, and Moray districts ; Paisley (Morris Young) ; 

 Tain, Ross-shire (Bold), &c. 



P. decorus, Grav. This species is readily distinguished by its dull 

 bronze appearance ; the head and thorax have a slightly greenish reflec- 

 tion, the elytra are dull bronze, and the hind body is black with greyish- 

 brown pubescence, the margins of the ventral segments being pitchy 

 red ; head subovate narrower than thorax, antennae rather long with the 

 penultimate joints longer than broad ; thorax longer than broad, a little 

 narrowed in front ; elytra about as long as thorax, very finely and thickly 

 sculptured ; hind body finely and rather thickly punctured ; legs pitch- 

 black, with the tibiae, and sometimes tarsi, reddish, anterior tarsi simple 

 in both sexes, L. 11-12 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body strongly and very 

 sharply excised, with the excision furnished behind with a broad mem- 

 branous border, sixth segment slightly sinuate. 



In moss, cut grass, &c. ; local; London district, not common, Darenth Wood, 

 Richmond Park, Coombe Wood, Shirley near Croydon, Highgate ; Tunbridge ; Hast- 

 ings; Devonshire; Sutton Park, Birmingham; Dudley; Needwood Forest ; Repton ; 

 Suowdon district ; Manchester ; Liverpool ; York ; Northumberland district; Scotland, 

 common, Solway, Clyde, Forth, Dee, Moiay, and Shetland districts; it appears to be 

 a common species from the midland districts northward ; Ireland, near Belfast, and 

 Bray, CO. Wicklow. 



