412 STAPH YLiNiD.K. \_Homalium. 



A. Forehead with very stronar impressions near 



auteunse nearly me-.-ting impressions before 

 ocelli ; elytra strongly and very closely 

 punctured H. exiguum, Oijll. 



B. Forehead with impressions near antennae 



not strong ; elytra less strongly and closely 



punctured . . . H. oxyacanth^, Orav. 



II. Head with two large and deep longitudinal im- 



pressions before ocelli, very closely, deeply and 



thickly punctured ; length 3-3J mm H. 'EXCAYATUM, Steph. 



III. Head with two narrow impressed lines before 

 ocelli ; front parts very closely punctured, dull ; 



length 2-2 a" mm. 



1. Form narrower and darker ; elytra shorter in 



proportion, less coarsely punctured . . . . H. CJESUMj Qrav. 



2, Form broader, usually reddish brown witli 



head black ; elytra longer in proportion, a 



little more coarsely punctured H. nigeiceps, Kles. 



31. rivulare, Payk. Black, shining, elytra lighter or darker yellowish 

 brown, or pitchy ; head triangular, moderately thickly punctured, almost 

 smooth in front, eyes prominent, ocelli with a distinct roundish impres- 

 sion before each, neck thickly punctured ; antennae moderately long, 

 dark, with first joint clear red, and the three or four following joints 

 usually lighter than the rest, or reddish ; penultimate joints slightly 

 transverse ; thorax broader than long, narrower than elytra, rounded and 

 somewhat widened in front and narrowed slightly but perceptibly behind, 

 posterior angles sharp and distinct, disc Avith two strongly marked 

 furrows or fovese, rather thickly and strongly punctured ; the space 

 between the impressions, however, is often more or less smooth ; elytra 

 at least twice as long as thorax, strongly, but scarcely, if at all, rugosely 

 punctured ; hind body very finely punctured ; legs testaceous. L. 3|-4 

 mm 



Tn decaying vegetable rubbish, at sap of trees, in haystack refuse, decaying fungi 

 and sea-weed, in carcases, &c. ; abundant throughout the kingdom. 



11. rug-ulipenne, Rye. Of the same general form, appearance, and 

 size as the preceding, but differing in the following points : the antennae 

 are shorter and entirely pale, the elytra longer and densely rugulose ; 

 the neck is alutaceous and has a very few indistinct punctures, and the 

 thorax is almost impunctate at least on disc ; this latter character, how- 

 ever, is somewhat variable, as I have specimens in which the thorax is 

 distinctly punctured, but more closely and finely than in H. rivulare ; 

 the species, however, may be known by its general colour, which is ferru- 

 ginous brown or reddish^ with the hind body and sometimes part of the 

 elytra darker ; in some points the species resembles S. rijjarium, but is 

 at once distinguished by its colour, longer antennae, and rugose elytra. 

 L. 3| mm. 



In decaying sea-weed, carcases on the sliore, &c. ; very local; Mr. Rye believed he 

 captured the specimen from which he described his species at Graveseud, but it has 



