Philunthus.] stai'UYLixid.'k. 275 



(Plymouth), &e. ; Birmingham district ; Repton ; Sherwood Forest; Liiicohi ; Chat 

 Moss; Is'orthumborhind district; Scothiud, Lowlands, ForLli district only. 



P. discoideus, (!r;iv. Shining bl.ick, with the elytra iiw)V(3 or less 

 pitchy bhick, Avith suture, margins, and sometimes apical border tes- 

 taceous ; the aiitennse, legs, and the apex of the ventral segments of hind 

 body are reddish testaceous ; closely allied to the preceding, but rather 

 smaller, with the antennae somewhat shorter and unicolorous ; the 

 anterior tarsi, also, are strongly dilated in the male ; varieties occur in 

 which the margins only of the elytra are testaceous, and occasionally the 

 elytra are entirely, or almost entirely, light-coloured. L. 4^-5 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body slightly sinuate, 

 with a narrow smooth space before the sinuation. 



In duug-heaps, hotbeds, haystack refuse, &c. ; rather common and generally dis- 

 tributed throughout the kingdom. 



P. quisquiliarius, Gyll. Shining black, with the elytra often 

 tinged with a greenish reflection ; head somewhat orbicular, a little 

 narrower than thorax, antennae long and slender, blacky with the basal 

 joint (at least on under side) testaceous, penultimate joints longer than 

 broad ; thorax at base nearly as broad as long, scarcely narrowed in 

 front ; elytra a little longer than thorax, finely, but rather deeply and 

 closely punctured ; hind body finely and rather thickly punctured, less 

 closely behind ; legs brownish-testaceous, more or less pitchy, anterior 

 tibiae more or less spinose on their external border (more so in female 

 than male), anterior tarsi of male strongly dilated, of female almost 

 simple. L. 6^-65 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind Ijody moderately and 

 angularly sinuate on its apical margin, with a smooth, triangular space 

 before simiation, sixth segment feebly emarginate. 



Wet places, running on mud, or in refuse on the borders of streams ; somewhat 

 local, and confined chiefly to the London district and the south of England ; in the 

 former it is not uncommon, Lee, Chathiim, Faversham, Penge, Walton-ou-Thames, 

 Barnes, Merton, Dagenham, Toubridge ; Bishopstoke ; Exmouth, Devon; Sohani, 

 Cambridgeshire ; it has been recorded from the Manchester district, but this may have 

 l)een in error, as it docs not appear to occur in the Midlands, and I can find no record 

 further north than Cambridgeshire. 



The V. dimidiafus (P. dimidkifus, Er.) has the elytra bright rod, with 

 the base only black : it has occurred at Notting Hill, Dulwich, Putney, 

 Maidstone, Littlington (Sussex), Exeter, &c. ; 1 have also received it 

 from Armagh, Ireland, where it was taken by Rev. W. F. Johnson. 



P. splendidulus, Grav. (Gabrius S2}le7idididi(s, Thorns.). Narrow 

 and linear, shining pitch-black, wdth the apex of hind body, and the 

 apical margins of the several segments reddish ; head subovate, loiig, 

 nearly as broad as thorax, antennae rather short, reddish testaceous with 

 the hrst thiee joints lighter, joints 4-5 about as long as broad, G-10 trans- 

 verse ; thorax considerably longer than broad, sliglitly narrowed towards 



T 2 



