286 STAPHYLiNiDiE. {_Actohius. 



Charlton, Colney Hatch ; Isle of Wight; Repton, Burton-on-Trent ; Lincoln; Stret- 

 ford, near Manchester, on the wing ; Northumberland district, rare, near Wooler, and 

 sea-banks north of Wliitley ; Scotland, rare, Solway, Tweed, and Tay districts. 



A. prolixus, Er. {puhi'pennis, Kol., Bisnii/s proUxus, Muls. et Key). 

 Very closely allied to the preceding, but rather more elongate, and 

 more brightly coloured ; the head, moreover, is a little broader and 

 very slightly narrowed behind ; the thorax is a little narrower, and 

 therefore appears to be slightly longer ; the fourth and fifth joints of the 

 antennse are rather longer and more oblong ; the elytra vary somewhat 

 in colour, but are, as a rule, brick-red, or reddish testaceous, with the 

 base more or less broadly dark : the hind body has segments 2-4 trans- 

 versely impressed as in the two preceding, but the impressions in A. 

 villosidus and A. procendus are. scarcely visibly punctured, whereas in this 

 species they are evidently and rather strongly punctured ; this is one of 

 the best distinguishing characters, as the colour varies, and some speci- 

 mens have only the extreme apex of elytra red ; the legs are reddish 

 testaceous, lighter than in the preceding species. L. 3|-4 mm. 



In muddy places, under stones, also running in the sun on the mud in dried-up water- 

 courses ; very local, and not common; Netting Hill, St. John's Wood, Colney Hatch ; 

 Scotland, Solway district only. 



XANTHOLININ^. 



In this sub-family which, as stated above (p. 221), has been until com- 

 paratively recently included nnder the StaphyliniucT, the antennas are 

 inserted near the middle of the anterior margin of the front, and are 

 approximate at base ; the head is nsually as large, or almost as large, as 

 thorax and is constricted behind into a short and narrow neck ; the 

 antennae are often strongly geniculate ; the thorax is long and more or 

 less rectangular and often furnished with rows of punctures ; the general 

 form is linear and elongate ; in our genera wlien the antennae are strongly 

 geniculate the elytra are imbricate, that is to say, one overlaps the other 

 like tiles on a roof. The sub-family contains at present about twenty 

 genera, some of which, however, are further divided by different authors. 



The larvae of the Xantholininse are chiefly characterized by their large rectangular, 

 puboblong heads and linear form ; that of X. tricolor is described by Mulsaut and Key, 

 Brevipennes Xantholiniens, p. GO ; it is shining reddish testaceous in colour with the 

 abdomen pale, with the head a third broader tlian thorax, rather longer than broad ; 

 the clypeus is furnished with four teeth in front ; auteunaa sliort ; prothorax rather 

 long and narrow, semicylindrical, as long as the meso- and meta-thorax together ; 

 abdomen long, longer than the rest of the body, rather deeply furrowed longitudinally 

 on the first eight segments, which are almost smooth on disc, but wrinkled at apex, and 

 rough at sides ; last segment trapeziform, narrower behind, with an anal appendage, 

 and two cerci, of which the second joint is narrower and a little shorter than the first ; 

 legs short. 



The larvfB of X. punctulatiis, linearis, &c., described by Bouche, Erichson, Mulsant 

 and Key, &c,, do not differ much from the above except in size, colour, and the rela- 

 tive length of thorax and of the joints of the cerci ; in all the species the body appears 

 to be strangulate behind the head, owing to the large size of the latter. 



