276 STAPHTLiKiDiB. [PMloniJiug, 



base, where it is a little narrower than elytra ; scutellum almost im- 

 punctate ; elytra about as long as thorax, distinctly and rather sparingly 

 punctured ; hind body finely punctured ; legs testaceous, L. 4|-4f mm. 

 Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body broadly sinuate 

 at apex. 



Under bark; also in moss and dead loaves in or upon old decayed trees, often in 

 company with ants ; not common, except in one or two localities; Loudon district, 

 rare ; Loughtou (Essex) ; Toubridpre ; Haiuault Forest ; New Forest ; Dean Forest ; 

 Sherwood Forest (abundant under oiik-bark (Blatch)); Scotland, very rare, Tay 

 district, Rannoch. 



P. thermarum, Aube. The smallest British species of the genus ; 

 narrow and sublinear ; head shining black, thorax pitch-brown or reddish- 

 brown, elytra obscurely testaceous, often a little darker towards base, 

 hind body black with the apex, and occasionally (in somewhat immature 

 specimens) the apical margin of the segments, especially the ventral ones, 

 reddish testaceous ; head oblong, longer than broad, somewhat rectangu- 

 lar, with sides almost straight, antennae rather short, Avith joints 6-10 

 very slightly transverse, or about as long as broad ; thorax considerably 

 longer than broad, a little less broad at base than elytra ; elytra a little 

 longer than thorax, somewhat widened behind, rather strongly and spar- 

 ingly punctured ; hind body finely punctured ; legs pale testaceous, 

 anterior tarsi very slightly dilated in male, simple in female. L. 3-3 1- 

 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body rather broadly 

 and deeply sinuate at apex. 



In dung-heaps, hotbeds, &c. ; local ; Westerham (Kent), Dulwich, Ealing, Eltham, 

 Birdbrook (Essex), West Ham, Croydon, Farnliam, &c. ; Hastings district ; Edgbaston 

 and Knowle,.near Birmingham ; Repton, Burton-on-Trent ; Northumberland district, 

 Long Benton, rare ; not recorded from Scotland. 



Section IV. 



Dorsal series of thorax each consisting of six punctures. 



I. Antennffi slender, not, or scarcely, thickened towards 

 apex ; last joint of maxillary palpi much longer than the 

 preceding. 

 i. Elytra black, pitchy, or slightly bronze. 



1. Length 6^-7 mm. 



A. Legs black P. nigeita, Nord. 



B. Legs testaceous P. fumaeius, Grav. 



2. Length 3^-5? mm. 



A. Elytra and hind body closely and finely punc- 

 tvired. 



a. Form broader, somewhat fusiform ; thorax more 



or less narrowed in front ; second and third 



joints of antennae of about equal length . . P. MICANS, Grav. 



b. Form narrower, subparallel ; tliorax slightly 



narrowed beliind ; third joint of antenna) 



much longer than second ....... P. astutus, Er. 



