British Species of Homalota. 233 



The male is difficult to distinguish ; it has the ventral 

 plate of the seventh abdominal segment narrower^ and 

 more produced than in the female. 



Abundant in England and Scotland, in the nests of 

 Formica rufa. 



124. Homalota flavipes. 



Nigra, sat nitida, antennarum basi pedibus anoque 

 rufo-testaceis, elytris rufo-brunneis, abdomine piceo ; 

 thorace transverse, angulis posticis haud rotundatis ; ab- 

 domine supra segmentis 2-4 parce punctatis, 5° et 6° 

 laevigatis. Long. 1| lin. 



ilf as ; abdomine segmento 7° dorsali apice fere trian- 

 gulariter emarginato. 



Aleochara flavipes, Grav. Mon. 161; S. flavipes, Er. 

 Gen. et Spec. Staph. 124; Kr. Ins. Deutsch. ii. 263; 

 Wat. Cat.; Notothecta flavipes, Th. Sk. Col. iii. 107. 



A rather broad, robust species, narrowed before and 

 behind. The antennae are pitchy in colour, yellowish at 

 the base, the apical joint also sometimes obscurely yellow ; 

 they are moderately long, scarcely thickened towards the 

 apex, and pretty distinctly furnished with projecting hairs ; 

 joints two and three are of about equal length, four to 

 ten differ but little from one another in length and breadth, 

 each as long as broad; eleventh joint long and rather 

 slender, pointed, longer than the two preceding together. 

 The head is narrower than the thorax broad and short, 

 black and shining, finely and indistinctly punctured. 

 The thorax is black, or pitchy-black, a little narrower 

 than the elytra, twice as broad as long, narrower at the 

 anterior than at the posterior angles ; the base a little 

 sinuate on each side near the external angles, which are 

 distinct and not at all depressed, moderately closely and 

 pretty distinctly punctured, with an indistinct impression 

 in front of the scutellum. The elytra are brownish or 

 reddish-brown, scarcely shining, about one-third longer 

 than the thorax, much broader than long, pretty closely 

 and distinctly, and somewhat rugulosely punctured. The 

 abdomen is black and shining, pitchy at the base, red- 

 dish-yellow at the extremity ; segments two to four are 

 sparingly punctured, five and six impunctate. The legs 

 are reddish-yellow. 



In the male, the hind margin of the seventh segment 

 of the abdomen is distinctly emarginate in the middle. 



