Medius.] STAPHTLlNIDiE. 3G3 



the thorax, and by its anterior tibiae being armed with two rows of spines; 

 this latter character and tlie contiguous intermediate coxge, as well as the 

 more parallel and cylindrical form, will serve to separate it from Platy- 

 stethus ; the species are all fossorial, and are found in clayey and sandy 

 places digging galleries in the mud or damp soil ; they throw up small 

 casts, and by these their presence may easily be detected by any person 

 acquainted with their habits ; as they do not often appear above ground 

 unless disturbed, they are perpetually passed over, and in this way some 

 of the species, which are really locally common, have come to be con- 

 sidered generally rare ; they are slow in their movements ; as a rule our 

 species are found in company with species of Di/scJnrms, which prey 

 upon their larvae and pupae ; there are about fifty European species, 

 of which sixteen or seventeen are British ; there is, however, a little 

 doubt with regard to the specific value of one or two that have hitherto 

 been received. 



Several larvae of species of Bledius have been described ; I Lave found the larva 

 and pupa of Bledius dissimilis in numbers in the sides of the clay cliffs at Bridlington, 

 Yorkshire ; the pupae were in small hollow chambers or cells which they had evidently 

 formed before undergoing their transformation ; the general characteristics of the 

 larvaj of Bledius are as follows : head transverse, broader than thorax ; ocelli three in 

 number, the two front ones the largest ; legs fossorial, tibia; armed with strong 

 spines ; cerci solid, setose ; anal appendage very short, often apparently absent ; the 

 larvae of the genus appear to fall under two divisions ; in one of these the body is much 

 strangulated behind the head ; the thorax is cordate, much naiTower than the head, 

 and the meso- and meta-thoi-ax are very narrow ; the first segment of the abdomen is a 

 little broader than the metathorax, and the next become gradually wider to the seventh 

 and eighth where the abdomen is much dilated ; to this division belong the larvae of 

 B. tricornis, B.fracticornis, &c. ; in the second division the whole body is broader 

 and less narrowed behind, and the pro-, meso-, and meta-thorax are of about equal 

 breadth, the first being subquadrate ; to this must be referred the larvae of B. pallipes, 

 &c. ; the division almost appears to be a generic one. 



The pupa of B. tricornis is very extraordinary, the thoracic region being produced 

 in front in a long, broad, and blunt protuberance, and the " styli motorii " at the sides 

 of the body and on the apex of thorax being stout and very long ; the general form is 

 oblong, and the abdominal region is very little narrowed behind and terminates in two 

 short and thick conical cerci (v. Schiodte, part ii., p. 121, pi. xii,, 4, 14, 23). 



I. Thorax with a distinct central furrow. 



i. Thorax in front armed with a strong projecting horn 

 in male; head furnished with two horns or horn- 

 like prominences in male, and two less distinct pro- 

 minences in female. 



1. Hotns on the head of male very long ; posterior 

 tibiae with four long spines near base ; elytra black 

 or yellowish-testaceous, with scutellary region 



often darker , B. TAUEUS, Germ. 



2. Horns on the head of male taking the form of 



two more or less raised blunt prominences ; pos- 

 terior tibiaj with one spine only near base. 

 A. Head with eyes plainly narrower than thorax ; 



size larger; elytra (except scatellary region) 



red or reddish testaceous. 

 a. Thorax sparingly punctured with somewhat 



