342 STAPHYLINID^. [Ste?ivs. 



the shoulder angles more decided, and the hind body also flatter with 

 more distinct margins ; the elytra also are rather more thickly punctured, 

 and the legs, as a rule, are lighter; from S.fuscipes the species may 

 easily be distinguished by its considerably longer elytra, which are more 

 thickly and less strongly punctured, and by the very much stronger 

 margins of hind body. 



Marshy places ; in moss, &c. ; local ; rare in the London district, Weybridge > 

 Fen districts, not unconiuion (Horning; Fen, Wiekiu Fen, Lincolnshire Fens, &c.) = 

 it is also recorded from Manchester ; Ireland, Killarney. 



S. declaratus, Er. {nanus, Fauv.). A short and rather broad 

 species, black, depressed, very slightly shining ; in shape it strongly 

 resembles S. civcularis, the thorax being transverse or subtransverse, 

 with the sides strongly rounded and dilated ; it differs from that species, 

 however, in having the palpi black Avith the basal joint testaceous, and 

 the legs dark pitchy or pitchy red, sometimes a little lighter; the head, 

 moreover, is more deeply furrow^ed than in S. circuJaris, and the interval 

 is more strongly elevated ; the elytra are flatter, rather more even, and 

 longer, being distinctly longer than thorax ; the punctuation is thick and 

 rather deep, but considerably less coarse ; the front segments of the hind 

 body are not keeled at base, but simply crenulate. L. 2-|- mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body rather narrowly 

 and feebly emarginate at apex. 



In moss, haystack refuse, &c. ; common and generally distributed throughout 

 England and Scotland : I can tind no Irish record, bat it has probably been over- 

 looked in that country. 



The legs in this species are sometimes so dark that it is hardly satis- 

 factorily placed in this division ; the colour, however, is variable, and is 

 always more or less pitchy. 



(Section III.) 



The species belonging to this section are characterized by having the 

 ]u-nultimate joint of the tarsi simple or somewhat cordiform, and the hind 

 body without margins ; as here constituted it only contains tAvo species, 

 fis S. nigritulus, Gyll., and S. hrunnipes, Steph., are placed in the follow- 

 ing section ; Thomson and other authors consider the v. littoralis of 

 S. crassus, Steph., as a separate species, but it appears to be only a 

 variety ; the position of S, nigrihdus, Gyll., seems to be somewhat 

 doubtful, as the penultimate joint of the tarsi is only slightly bilobed ; on 

 the whole, however, it is best to class it with S. hrunnq^es, &c., in a 

 ti^eparate section. 



I. Head scarcely broader than thorax ; form stout, upper sur- 

 face rather shiny ; punctuation coarser and not rugose . . S. CBASSUS, Steph. 



II. Head plainly broacler than thorax; form rather narrow; 



u]iper surface dull ; punctuation closer and rugose . . . S. OPTICUS, Grav. 



