190 Dr. Sharp's Revision of the 



Aleochara xanthoptera, Steph. 111. Brit. Ent. v. 116 

 (1832); H. xanthoptera, Wat. Cat. H. socialis,_ var. b, 

 Er. Gen. et Spec. Staph. 102. H. merdaria, Th. Ofv. Vet. 

 Ac. Forh. 1852, p. 141; Kr. Ins. Deutsch. ii. 269; Athe- 

 ta tnerdaria, Th. Sk. Col. iii. 81. 



Antennge long and rather slender, very little thickened 

 towards the apex ; yellowish, more or less darker towards 

 the extremity, but with the terminal joint nearly always 

 a little paler than the penultimate one, their pubescence 

 rather distinct; joints one, two, and three moderately 

 long, three slightly longer than two, four about as broad 

 as three, longer than broad, five a little broader than four, 

 from this to the tenth the joints differ but little from one 

 another, each is a little longer than broad, and a 

 little narrowed towards the base; the last joint is elon- 

 gate, nearly the length of the three preceding together, 

 gently pointed, not stouter than the tenth. Head black, 

 with the mandibles and palpi yellowish, considerably 

 narrower than the thorax, rounded behind the eyes, finely 

 and indistinctly punctured. Thorax black and shining, 

 a little narrower than the elytra, fully one-third broader 

 than long, the sides gently rounded in front, then nearly 

 straight behind, finely and pretty closely punctured, with 

 an indistinct impression in front of the scutellum. Ely- 

 tra a third or fourth longer than the thorax, of a chesnut- 

 yellow colour, very indistinctly darker about the scutel- 

 lum and towards the apical angles, pretty closely and 

 finely punctured, and with a soft distinct pubescence. 

 Abdomen black and shining, the extremity sometimes 

 yellow; segments two to four sparingly but distinctly 

 punctured, five and six almost impunctate. Legs bright 

 yellow. 



In the male, the hind margin of the upper plate of the 

 seventh abdominal segment is truncate and crenulate, 

 the number of crenulations varies a little, but is generally 

 eight ; of tiiese, the outer one on each side is larger than 

 the others; the under plate of this segment is also more 

 produced, and its hind margin more rounded, than in the 

 female. 



Common all over the country, in fungi and decaying 

 vegetable matter, especially in the months of August and 

 September; sometimes found at the sap of trees. 



Ohs. — Stephens' description of A. xanthoptera, gives 

 characters by which, considered together, this species 



