Ps(fJaj)hina.'] clavicoknia, 87 



i. Mnxilliry palpi with the \:\f.i jolut very lona:, duh-shaped PSELiPnus, Herlst. 

 ii. M:ixill;iry pulpi with the hist joiut securitbnn, usually 

 broad. 



1. Anteunaj with the first joint moderate, very closely ap- 

 proximate at base; abdomen with the first visible 



dorsal segment longer than the following TrCHUS, Leach. 



2. i^ntennoe subgeniculate with the first joint large, less 

 approximate at base; abdomen with the first dorsal 



segments subeqnal BrTniNUS, Leach. 



II. Antcunaj distant, inserted at the sides of the head; iiiaxil- 

 lary palpi uoc conspicuously large. 



i. 'J'arsi with two unequal claws Bateisus, Axihe. 



ii. Tarsi with a single claw. 



1. Thorax witli three foveas at base united by a transverse 

 furrow, elytra of male produced iu a short and broad 



lobe at apex RtbaxiS, Saulci/. 



2. Thorax with three foveae at base, not united by a 



furrow ; elytra of male simple at apex Beyaxis, Leach. 



PSEX.APKUS, Herbst. 



The genus Pselaphus contains, according to tlie Munich catalogiie, 

 twenty-one species, but nearly that number of new European species 

 alone has since been described ; representatives occur in ISTorth and South 

 America, India and Australia, so that the genus is evidently very wiJely 

 distributed ; its limits, however, are very imperfectly known ; the species 

 occur in moss, vegetable refuse, &c., and are among the most elegant of 

 the minuter Coleoptera ; they may be distinguished, as a rule, by their 

 large and somcAvhat triangular abdomen, which is much narrowed in 

 front, long and more or less cylindrical neck, and the very long maxillary 

 palpi ; they are found in moss, vegetable refuse, &c. 



I. Thorax narrow, much longer than broad, without 



impression at base P. HEISEI, Herbst. 



II. Thi rax broader, only a little longer than broad, with 



an impression at base P. deesdensis, Herbst. 



P. Keisei, Herbst. {Herhsti, Reichb.). Bright chestnut or reddish- 

 brown with the apex of the elytra sometimes darker ; head long, eyes 

 large, forehead strongly furrowed, with two large yellowish tubercles 

 between eyes ; antennae long, rather strongly thickened towards apex, 

 second joint twice as long as third ; thorax long, ovate cylindrical, without 

 furrow at base ; elytra narrow in front, strongly widened behind, with 

 long and thick tonientose pubescence at apex ; abdomen with the first 

 visible dorsal segment longer than the following taken together, strongly 

 margined ; legs red, tarsi usually lighter, elongate, with the tibite con- 

 stricted at base. L. l-|-2 mm. 



In moss, haystack refuse, &c. ; generally distributed throughout the greater part 

 of England, as far north as Yorkshire ; rare in the northern counties; Scotland, rare, 

 I>owlands, among sphagnum. Forth and Solway districts; Ireland, Dublin, Portishead, 

 Armagh aud Galway, and probably generally distributed. 



