Doronoctes iK«|)re?su% Fnh.^ a/u/ clcgan% Panzer. 'M)\ 



and " (B) //. (It'prettaus, Gyll." Tlie sex of the iii'liviiluals 

 drawn is nut nirntionetl, l)ul \>y tliu shupo of tlie tlioiax A ii 

 wove like depreasux, uliilo llje dark colouring of B agrees 

 with his description of that species, the sliape of the thorax in 

 his drawing su<;gestiiig either a ? lifpresnus or a (^ elegans. 



Murray gives //. elepmts, Illiger, as our British specie.'*, 

 with the synonyms " depresaus, Aube, 8teph., not Fab., 

 brevis, Sturm," and this elimination of Fabricius's species as 

 something di.slinct is interesting. Further, his synonymy 

 shows that he regarded Aube and iStephens as wrong in their 

 species. 



Bacli's remarks are of interest mainly because of what he 

 says as to the habitat of elegans. He describes depressus as 

 very rare, while elegans, he says, occurs in the salt lake at 

 Eisleben, a statement which ai^roos with Schaum's observa- 

 tions at kSulldorf and kSta.ssfurtli, also in Saxony but a little 

 farther north. For a species which elsewhere occurs in lakes 

 and rivers this habitat is remarkal)le, but we find other 

 llydradephaga and Ilydrophilidae showing similar pecu- 

 liarities — in fact, several at least of our brackish-water beetles 

 are freshwater species in the Mediterranean district. 



Seidlitz for the first time gels off the beaten track, and 

 about ninety years after the discovery of the two species finds 

 reliable characters upon which they may be separated. He 

 refers to the different forms of the two insects, mentioning 

 the thorax, and he also mentions the difference in form and 

 size of the anterior tarsal claws of the males ; and from Lis 

 description, which has been enlarged upon by Grangll)auer, 

 I regard our northern species as his '^ depressus ^^ Okwd our 

 common one as his tlegans. 



In a footnote (188G, |). 57) he states that Sturm was the 

 first to separate the two specie.^, and that the earlier writings 

 of Panzer and Illiger refer to depressus. Undoubtedly Sturm 

 is the first author to refer to both and to describe them as 

 separate specie.", but I can find no evidence for the statement 

 as to Panzer and Illiger. So far as colour is of any value as 

 a discriminating character, it is quite evident that Panzer 

 is referring to lighter-coloured specimens than Fabricius, and 

 from the chain of evidence which 1 liave outlined I regard 

 elegans as his species. 



Habitat and Britannic Distribution. 



So far as liabitat is concerned, D. elegans is a river and 

 loch species in our islands, whereas, omitting IrclamI, which 



