120 Mr. F. Balfour-Browne on the 



Ireland I have taken it in Antrim, Down, Armagh, West- 

 meath, and Wexford. In Scotland I have not taken it my- 

 self, but I have seen specimens from Stirling, Lanark, and 

 Ayr, while in England I have seen specimen?? from Chester, 

 Devon N., I. of Wi-ht, Suffolk E., Kent E. and W., and 

 Sussex E., and have taken it in Cambs and Norfolk E., and 

 there are also records for Hereford, Hunts, and ? Suffolk W. 

 General Summary of Characters. — 



'1. General form : elj^tra iiiucli as in II, rvehnekei, Lut the insect 

 is rather long. 



2. Thorax not more than twice as long as broad, tlie sides more 

 or loss straight. 



3. Thoracic stripe usually very short and incurved. 



A.^ 4. Elytra with black lines seldom spreading into patches of colour 

 and usually unbroken. 



I 5. Prosternum usually channelled throughout its length, but some- 

 times the groove is so wide and shallow that the edges are 



I scarcely recognizable, and the prosternum at first sight 



(^ appears flat. 



( 1. Ant. tarsal claws unequal, similar to H. wehnclcei. 

 , J 2. Apical segment of ant. tarsus distinctly short (cf, H. I'uficollis 

 ^ ' ) and wehncJiei). 



( 3. Basal segment of median tarsus slightly excised on posterior side. 

 Q j 1. Elytra usually without fine puucturation, but specimens occur 

 + • j in which this exists at the apex and even more extensively. 



"With regard to aideagal characters, the left accessory lobe 

 is different from that of all the other British Haliplids ; it is 

 bluntly pointed and has a small tuft of hairs at the apex, and 

 about lialfway down the dorsal face is a strong brush of 

 hairs, which Edwards describes as " a large triangular tooth." 

 The ajdeagus itself has a very large hood, whicii conceals the 

 base of tiie " tongue " and also the whole of the saccular 

 region, wliich is well developed. The tongue itself is rather 

 peculiar in form, as will be seen in the figure. 



H. fidvicoUis, Erichson. 



The first mention of this as a British species was by 

 Edwards, who says that all the English specimens he saw 

 ■were females. Apparently his knowledge of this species 

 depends upon specimens from Eisleben, sent to him by 

 Herr Schulz of Hamburg, and he remarks that " the genitalia 

 of the Ei.sleben male are similar to those of riiJlcolUs.^' 

 Further, he mentions that in the English specimens the 

 elytra are finely punctured on the apical iialf only^ and sug- 

 gests that this had been overlooked byGerhardt and Wehncke, 

 " who speak of the elytra as without punctulation.'^ Now 

 it struck me as extraordinary tliat these authors should have 

 been able to see such sculpture in the females of ruJicolUs 



