British Species of Homalota. 211 



itudinal channel in front of the scutellum. The elytra are 

 about half as long again as the thorax, obscurely brown- 

 ish or brownish-black or nearly black, finely and pretty 

 closely punctured, but little shining. The abdomen is 

 black and shining, segments two to four finely and spar- 

 ingly punctured, fifth segment very sparingly punctured, 

 sixth nearly impunctate. The legs are pitchy -testaceous, 

 the thighs generally darker than the tibias. 



In the male, the penultimate joints of the antenna3 are 

 longer than in the female, the upper surface of the head 

 is flatter, the hind margin of the dorsal plate of the 

 seventh abdominal segment is obsoletely emarginate, and 

 the ventral plate of the same segment is narrower and 

 rather longer than in the female, and its hind margin is 

 more rounded. 



Not uncommon in fungi, vegetable refuse, &c., in 

 Scotland; Thornhill, Edinburgh, Rannoch, Inverness- 

 shire. In England, I have only found it near Croydon. 



Ohs. — My specimens agree entirely with a specimen of 

 H. angusticollis, sent by Thomson to Mr. Crotch. The 

 species has been generally supposed to be synonymous 

 with H. ravilla, Er., Kr., but Thomson, in the 9th vol. of 

 Sk. Col., recognizes H. ravilla and angusticollis as dis- 

 tinct species, both occurring in Sweden ; and states that 

 the much longer terminal joint of the antennse of H. 

 ravilla distinguishes it from angusticollis. An example 

 of H. ravilla, sent by Kraatz to the British Museum, 

 when compared with my specimens of angusticollis, shows 

 this distinction in a very marked manner; and among a 

 long series of H. angusticollis, taken by me in different 

 parts of Scotland, I find no variation in the length of 

 the last joint of the antennse. 



103. Homalota jpalustris. 



Nigra, sat nitida, elytris obscure brunneis, pedibus 

 testaceis ; thorace transversim subquadrato ; abdomine 

 segmentis 2-4 subtiliter sat crebre punctatis, 5° parce 

 punctato, 6° fere Isevigato. Long. 1-lj lin. 



Mas ; abdomine segmento 7° dorsali apice emarginato, 

 ventrali producto, apicem versus vix angustato. 



H. palustris, Kies. Stet. Ent. Zeit. v. 318; KJr. Ins. 

 Deutsch. ii. 309; Wat. Cat. Atheta hrunnipes, Th. Sk. 

 Col. iii. 72. 



