British Species of Homalota. 123 



and a little shorter than in elongatula; the second joint 

 is rather longer in proportion to the third, and each joint 

 is generally rather more narrowed towai"ds the base. 

 Volans is generally smaller than elongatula, and the spe- 

 cimens of equal size with elongatula are broader in pro- 

 portion (though the smallest variety of volans is, com- 

 paratively, narrower than elongatula) . The thorax of H. 

 volans is shorter than that of H. elongatula, and the male 

 and female characters offer constant distinctive charac- 

 ters. The male of H. elongatula has the ventral portion 

 of the seventh segment narrow, and produced consider- 

 ably beyond the upper plate, while in volans the same 

 part is broader, shorter, and more evenly rounded, and 

 projects but little beyond the upper plate. 



In the female of H. elongatula, the upper plate has the 

 apex in the middle a little emarginate, while in volans 

 the outline of the hind margin is not interrupted. The 

 setae towards the apex of the abdomen are in each sex of 

 E. volans more numerous than in elongatula. 



The type of S. volans is If-l^ lin. long; the antennae 

 are moderately long and slender, of an obscure ferrugi- 

 nous colour. The thorax is about a fourth broader 

 than long, a little narrower than the elytra; these are 

 about a third longer than the thorax. The legs reddish- 

 yellow. 



Var. a. — Smaller than the type, more especially nar- 

 rower and more parallel, the thorax rather longer, and a 

 little more narrowed behind ; the antennae and legs of a 

 dusky yellow. 



Var. /3. — Rather larger and more robust than the type, 

 the colour of the legs, antennae, and elytra, brighter. 



Var. y. — Like /8, but still brighter in colour, with a 

 more transverse thorax, this part appearing therefore 

 more narrowed behind. 



Var. B. — Broader and more depressed than the type ; 

 black, with the antennae pitchy and slender; the head 

 small in proportion to the thorax, and the thorax more 

 transverse, being fully one-third broader than long (? H. 

 melanocera, Th.) . 



Though the extreme forms of these varieties might be 

 considered distinct species, yet they are connected with 

 the type by intermediate specimens in the most unmis- 

 takeable manner. They occur more or less as races ; that 



TKANS. ENT. SOC. 1869. — PART II. (mAy) . L 



