THE HYDROPORI. 55 



gether, like those of the head. The elytra are pale 

 yellow, diversified with small black-brown streaks, a 

 brighter yellow spot near the middle, and a stripe of 

 the same colour down the suture, and upon the lateral 

 margins. 



PASSING over several genera we come to a Beetle 

 which is called Hydroporus duodeciin-pustnlatus, and 

 which is selected as an example of a very large genus 

 containing between forty and fifty species. All the 

 Beetles of this genus have their bodies much flattened, 

 and the tarsi of the first and middle pair of legs with 

 four joints, while those of the hind pair have five 

 joints. The two first joints of the antennae are 

 rather longer than the others. 



They are all small Beetles, and the present species 

 is perhaps the largest of its fellows, though it is, on 

 an average, only a quarter of an inch in length. The 

 colour of the head is dull reddish-brown, lighter and 

 redder in the middle. The anterior margin of the 

 thorax has a black stripe in the middle, while a 

 similar stripe on the posterior margin is widened so as 

 to form two black lobe-like marks on the thorax. The 

 elytra are black, and on each elytron are six spots of 

 the same colour as the middle of the head, three of the 

 spots running parallel with the suture, and the other 

 three being placed along the margin. Beneath, the 

 body is yellowish. 



This pretty little Beetle is exceedingly common 

 in some places, and correspondingly rare in others. 

 Although the spots differ much in size and shape, and 



