164 Eev. T. A. Marshall's monograph of 



stout black valves, pilose beneath. ^ similar ; abdomen rounded 

 at the extremity, instead of being vertically truncate. Length, 

 li— 2 ; wings, ^—^ lin. 



Var. 1. Fuscous, palpi and legs testaceous ; base of the antennae, 

 orbits of the eyes, face, anterior pleurae and basal half of the belly, 

 rufous. Ruthe. I have taken an Enghsh specimen of this variety. 



Var. 2. Entirely rufo-testaceous ; cubital nervure obsolete to its 

 base, so that the 1st cubital areolet is no longer separated from 

 the praediscoidal. Euthe. 



Commoner than sticticus, but I can find no record of 

 its having been bred except that of Tappes {l. c), who 

 obtained the ^ out of Cryptocephalus bipunctatus, L. 



ii. Blacus, Nees. 



Blacus, Nees, Act. Ac. L. C, 1819, p. 306 [this 

 reference shows nothing except the origin of the 

 name] ; Hal., Ent. Mag., iii., 39; Wesm., Nouv. 

 Mem. Ac. Brux., 1835, p. 91 [including Pygo- 

 stolus] ; Euthe, Berl. ent. Zeit., 1861, p. 132. 



Head small, subglobose ; occiput margined above and below ; 

 maxillary palpi 6-, labial 3-jointed. Antennae $ 17 — 24-jointed 

 (usually 17—20) ; those of the <? 19— 26-jointed (usually 19—21— 

 22) ; 1st joint of the flagellum generally longer than the 2d. 

 Thorax compressed ; mesothorax trilobed, its sutures distinct ; 

 metathorax not gibbous as in Pygostolus, but inclined posteriorly 

 almost from the base, partially areated by cariniform lines. Wings 

 sometimes abbreviated in the 5 I recurrent nervure entering the 

 1st cubital areolet near its apex. Abdomen not shorter than the 

 thorax, and much narrower at the base, gradually widened behind 

 in the ^ , or compressed in the J ; subsessile or almost petiolated ; 

 1st segment oblong, tubercles ante-medial ; anus truncated in the 

 ? , rounded in the ^ . Legs more elongate and slender than in 

 Pygostolus, stouter in the ? ; hind tarsi as long as their tibiae, or 

 nearly so. Terebra variously exserted ; anal forceps of the ^ 

 protruded. 



About 19 European species are described, 9 of which 

 are British, and I have added one remarkable new form. 

 The insects are mostly slender and gnat-like, black or 

 piceous (rarely with some rufous portions), and with 

 testaceous legs. Blacus is here understood in the sense 

 of Kuthe's monograph above quoted, not that of Wesmael, 



