British Species of Homalota. 257 



A dark- coloured, somewhat broad species, with strongly- 

 pointed abdomen, rather long and slender antennae, and 

 dense and fine punctuation. The antennae are a little 

 longer than the head and thorax, black, scarcely thick- 

 ened towards the apex; joints two and three rather elon- 

 gate, of about equal length, three rather the finer, four 

 distinctly longer than broad, five to ten difiering but 

 little from one another in length and breadth, the first 

 of them longer than broad, the last of them about as long 

 as broad ; eleventh joint pointed, rather long, as long as 

 the two preceding together. The head is rounded, con- 

 siderably narrower than the thorax, closely and finely 

 punctured. The thorax is, at the base, nearly as broad as 

 the elytra; its breadth nearly twice its length, the sides 

 rounded, narrower at the anterior than at the posterior 

 angles, closely and finely punctured, delicately and dis- 

 tinctly pubescent, sometimes with a fine central longitu- 

 dinal channel, sometimes unchannelled. The elytra are 

 black, or brownish-black, about a fourth longer than the 

 thorax, bi'oad, closely and finely punctured. The abdo- 

 men is strongly narrowed to the apex, densely, finely, 

 and evenly punctured, sixth segment more sparingly than 

 the basal ones ; furnished at the sides and apex with out- 

 standing black setae. The legs are pitchy-yellow, the 

 femora darker than the tibiae, the middle and posterior 

 tibiae furnished near the middle with a distinct outstanding 

 seta, the basal joint of the posterior tarsi but little longer 

 than the second. 



Very abundant, all over the country, in various situa- 

 tions. 



146 . Homalota pygmma. 



Nigro-fusca, subopaca, elytris fuscis, antennarum basi 

 pedibusque testaceis, confertim subtilissime punctata; 

 thorace leviter transverse, convexiusculo, sequali; abdo- 

 mine apicem versus angustato, supra dense subtilissime 

 punctate; tarsis posticis articulo basali elongate. Long. 

 1 lin. 



Aleochara pygmcea, Grav. Micr. 86; H. pygmwa, Kr. 

 Ins. Deutsch. ii. 314; Wat. Cat. Acrotona ohfuscata, 

 Th. Sk. Col. iii. 36. H. aterrima, var., Er. Gen. et Spec. 

 Staph. 133. 



Var. — Antennarum thoracis elytrorumque colore plus 

 minusve dilutiore. 



