84 BRITISH BEETLES. 



joint simple, except in Paederus and Sunius, where it is 

 bilobed. 



The species of Paederus are all very brightly co- 

 loured; red, bluish- or greenish -black, and yellow, in 

 sudden contrast, being their usual tints ; and they are 

 especially noteworthy for the very deep notching of the 

 penultimate segment of the abdomen beneath in the 

 male. 



P. caligatus (Plate IV, Fig. 6), hitherto exceedingly 

 rare, has recently been found in profusion in very wet 

 mossy places on Wimbledon Common. 



Lathrobium comprises certain elongate, flattish, marsh- 

 loving insects (some, also, occurring in sand-pits), of 

 which the most gaily coloured have merely half the elytra 

 stained with red, and which afford no subject of remark, 

 except that good characters for their specific discrimi- 

 nation are to be found in the notching, etc., of the under 

 surface of the penultimate abdominal segment in the 

 males. 



Achenium, found in the cracks of mud-banks and under 

 stones, has a wide, but very thin body, eminently adapted 

 to its habitat ; and a departure from the normal form of 

 antenna, in this family, is afforded by the light-footed 

 Crypt obium fracticorne (in which the basal joint is much 

 elongated), found in thick wet moss. 



The species of Stilicus, living in dead leaves and moss, 

 present a considerable family- likeness to each other, on 

 account of their slender long legs, and dull head and 

 thorax, the former of which is wide and orbiculate, and 

 separated by a neck from the latter, which is narrowed 

 in front. The males in this genus exhibit strong diffe- 

 rences, as in Lathrobium; and the coloration of the 

 apex of the elytra and legs assists materially in making 



