258 Dr. Sharp's Revision of the 



This species more resembles an Oxypoda than does 

 any other of this genus; its punctuation, and the struc- 

 ture of the posterior tarsi, closely imitate the same parts 

 in Oxypoda, nevertheless pygmoea is a true Homalota. 

 The antennge are moderately long, pitchy-black, two or 

 three basal joints obscurely yellow, a little thickened to- 

 wards the apex; joints two and three rather long and 

 slender, of about equal length, four to seven each 

 longer than broad, eight to ten about as long as broad ; 

 eleventh joint rather long, gently pointed, about as long 

 as the two preceding together. The head is smaller than 

 the thorax, rounded, a little narrowed to the front, 

 blackish, not shining, the palpi obscurely yellowish, 

 closely and very finely punctured, pubescence distinct 

 but very fine. The thorax is, at the base, as broad as 

 the elytra, its breadth about one-third greater than its 

 length, the sides gently rounded and distinctly narrowed 

 towards the front, transversely convex, very finely and 

 closely punctured, and delicately pubescent. The elytra 

 are brownish or obscurely blackish, about a fourth longer 

 than the thorax, densely and finely punctured. The 

 abdomen is strongly pointed at the apex, finely and 

 densely punctured, the apical segments a little more 

 sparingly than the basal ones, the margins of the seg- 

 ments generally, the apex always, more or less distinctly 

 paler, the sides and apex furnished with outstanding 

 black setse. The legs are yellow, the basal joint of the 

 posterior tarsi as long as, or longer than, the two succeed- 

 ing ones, the exserted seta of the posterior tibise is 

 absent, or rather so small as to escape observation. 



Pretty generally distributed in England and Scotland, 

 but not abundant. The light-coloured form seems to be 

 the common one in the South, while the dark form is the 

 only one I have found in Scotland. 



Ohs. — Thomson considers this species to be the Aleo- 

 chara ohfuscata of Gravenhorst, but I agree with Kraatz 

 that it is rather Gravenhorst^s A. pygmcea ; though it is 

 difficult to speak with any certainty, I should consider 

 Gravenhorst's A. ohfuscata rather applicable to S. pilo- 

 siventris, Th. In any case, the name pygmcea should be 

 adopted, for if the Gravenhorstian names be left out of 

 the question altogether, H. pygmcea, Kr., has priority 

 over H. ohfuscata, Th. 



