British Species of Homalota. 225 



Very rare. I have found it only at Horning, in Nor- 

 folk, and in a piece of wet ground near Norwood. 



Obs. — I have only one example of the male of this 

 species at my command ; its male characters do not seem 

 to agree altogether with Kraatz^s description, or Mul- 

 sant's figure. The place of the species is near H. oblita, 

 (as in Brichson) , and not next coriaria, where it is placed 

 by Kraatz, It is readily distinguished from ohlita by its 

 more sparing punctuation and pubescence, and the 

 brighter- coloured legs and base of the antennas. 



Group XVII. Small or very small species; the penulti- 

 mate joints only of the antennae strongly transverse. 



(Species 116—122). 



A group of small black or obscurely coloured species, 

 found in dung, vegetable refuse, and carcases. H. in- 

 quinulu is the smallest species of the genus. The male 

 characters are but unimportant. 



116. Homalota sericea. 



Nigra, antennis elytrisque fuscis^ pedibus fusco-testa- 

 ceis, tenuiter distincte pubescens; thorace transverse; 

 abdomine supra segmentis 2-4 parce subtiliter punctatis, 

 5° et 6° fere laevigatis. Long. |-1 lin. 



Mas; abdomine segmento 7° dorsali apice truncate, 

 vix emarginato. 



H. sericea, Muls. Opusc. i. 41 ; Kr. Ins. Deutsch. ii. 

 295; Atheta sericea, Th. Sk. Col. iii. 89; H. amicula, 

 Wat. Cat. 



A rather robust little species, delicately but distinctly 

 pubescent, moderately shining, with short stout antennae. 

 These are pitchy-black, with the two first joints pitchy, 

 thickened from the third to the apex ; joint two stout, 

 three rather shorter and more slender than two, four to 

 ten each a little stouter than its predecessor, four slightly 

 transverse, ten strongly so ; eleventh joint stout, about 

 as long as the two preceding. Head moderately large, 

 rather narrower than the thorax, the sides a little 

 straight behind the eyes, before being rounded at the 

 posterior angles, extremely finely punctured ; in the male 

 with an indistinct fovea on the disc. The thorax is but 



