AbrcEUS.'] CLAVICORNIA. 215 



tiljii\3 are simply rounded and not angled, and have no small tooth before 

 apex ; the prosternum and mesosternum are both thickly and strongly 

 punctured ; the size also is distinctly smaller. L. 1 mm.j 



In rotten wood, &c. ; very rare; Waltbanistow, Essex (Jiiuson) ; Cambridge 

 (Crotch) J Salford Priors, iu rotten ash tree (Blatch). 



ACRITUS, Leconte. 



This gejius contains upwards of forty or fifty species, of which about 

 a dozen occur in Europe ; the remainder are found in North and South 

 America, and two or three have been recorded from Asia Minor, Cuba, 

 &c. ; one or two species have been separated off under the genus Aelefes, 

 Horn, as having no visible scutellum, this part being distinct in the 

 genus Acritus proper ; the members of the genus have the posterior 

 tarsi 4-jointed ; our three British species may be distinguished as fol- 

 lows : — 



I. Form rather long, subquadrangular ; upper surftxee 



diffusely punctured A pdnctum, Auhe. 



II. Form oval or suborbicular ; punctuation rather close. 

 i. Thorax without a distinct transverse impressed line 

 before scutellum ; prosternum shorter, truncate behind ; 



anterior tibiae scarcely visibly dilated at apex ... A. minutUS, Serhst. 

 ii. Thorax with a distinct transverse impressed line before 

 scutellum ; prosternum more elongate, slightly emar- 

 ginate behind ; anterior tibiae slightly dilated at apex . A. nigeicoenis, Soff. 



A. punctum, Aube. Eatlier elongate, subquadrangular, of a dark 

 brown or brownish-red colour, upper surface rather finely and diffusely 

 punctured ; antennas and legs lighter or darker red ; thorax rather large, 

 with sides almost parallel, without impressed line before base ; elytra 

 subparallel with the suture somewhat raised, and a rather well-marked 

 oblique dorsal stria ; anterior tibi^ finely denticulate and somewhat 

 dilated towards apex ; prosternum emarginate, double as broad in front 

 as behind, mesosternum rounded in front. L. f-lj mm. 



In vegetable refuse, &c., chiefly on the coast ; very local ; first taken on the Chesil 

 Bank by Mr. Crotch and Dr. Sharp more than twenty years ago, aud lately found in 

 numbers by Mr. J. J. Walker in the same locality by digging small holes as traps 

 just above high-water mark on warm sunny afternoons ; it has also been taken by Mr. 

 Crotch at Weston-super-Mare, aud by Mr. Walker at Hayling Island. 



A. minutus, Herbst. Oval, suborbicular, not very convex, shining 

 pitch-brown, antennae brown with the club ferruginous or reddish ; 

 forehead smooth, thorax thickly and very finely punctured, con- 

 siderably narrowed in front, with a transverse line of punctures at base, 

 but without a distinct impressed line before scutellum ; elytra finely 

 and closely punctured at base, more sparingly behind, almost smooth at 

 apex, with traces of rudimentary strias at base ; prosternum shorter, 

 truncate behind ; anterior tibiae scarcely visibly dilated. L. f-1 mm. 



