Common Beetles of our Countryside 



tightly to the stone ; black in colour with long legs 

 and short antennae. This insect belongs to a genus 

 named Elmis, and we may quite possibly find at least 

 two species. They are both small, the larger, Elmis 

 volkmari (named after the entomologist Volkmar) 

 Fig. i, Plate VI., about 3 mm. long, and the smaller, 

 E. cupreus (the Coppery Elmis) only about half that 

 size. Fig. 2, Plate VI. They are very similar in shape 

 a long oblong with a thorax distinctly longer than 

 broad, narrowed in front but not behind. 



E. volkmari is black with a slight metallic reflection, 

 and there are two deep and distinct incised lines down 

 each side of the thorax, which is rather finely punctured ; 

 the elytra are punctured also finely, and the whole 

 surface is slightly pubescent, it has long " sprawly " 

 black legs and short reddish antennae, with the apical 

 joints slightly thickened, but not in the least clubbed, 

 although this genus of Elmis belongs to the group 

 Clavicornia, and comes near the end of it. The other 

 smaller species, E. cupreus, is rather more metallic, 

 and has red legs, the incised lines down the thorax 

 are wanting, and there are slight impressions in their 

 place, and the striae of the elytra are somewhat raised 

 in the form of ridges. We have six British species 

 of Elmis, and they all seem to pass most of their lives 

 clinging to the under surface of stones submerged in 

 running water. E. volkmari is much the largest of them 

 all, two of the others being about 2 mm. long and the 

 other three only a little over I mm. Some of these 

 species occur in brooks in the south of England, but 



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