STAPHYLINID.E. 475 



A single Atlantic example only of this species, which was iden- 

 tified by Dr. Rraatz with the common European A. moesta, has yet 

 come beneath my notice. It was taken by myself (during 1855), 

 in the Ribeira de S ta Luzia of Madeira proper. It differs from the 

 Canarian A. funebris in its head, prothorax, and (more depressed) 

 elytra being of an intense black (and therefore totally free from the 

 subaenescent tinge which is more or less conspicuous in that insect), 

 as also a little less closely and less coarsely punctured, and not quite 

 so thickly pubescent, and in its antennae being just appreciably longer. 



1311. Aleochara nitida. 



Aleochara nitida, Grav., Col. Micropt. 97 (1802). 

 , Erich., Gen. et Spec. Staph. 168 (1839). 



1 Woll, Ins. Mad. 560 (1854). 



-, Id., Cat. Mad. Col. 182 (1857). 



, Id., Cat. Can. Col. 553 (1864). 



Habitat Maderenses (Mad., P to S to , Des.} et Canarienses (ins. omnes), 

 in stercore, sub quisquiliis neciion etiam in aquosis, ab ora ma- 

 ritima usque ad summos montes ascendens. 



There is scarcely any Coleopterous insect more generally diffused 

 over these Atlantic Groups than the common European A. nitida, 

 which we may feel pretty sure is absolutely universal. I have 

 myself taken it in all the Madeiran islands except the northern and 

 southern Desertas, as well as in the whole seven of the Canarian 

 archipelago ; and it is probably due to the fact of its being so easily 

 transported by human agencies that it has acquired so wide a range. 

 It occurs in the dung of cattle, under decaying vegetable refuse, and 

 even beneath stones in damp spots ; and it would appear, moreover, 

 to be independent of elevation. It is abundant at Mogadore, on the 

 opposite coast of Africa. 



1312. Aleochara binotata. 



Aleochara binotata, Kraatz, Nat. der Ins. Deutsch. ii. 106 (1856). 



, Wott., Cat. Mad. Col. 182 (1857). 



, Id., Cat. Can. Col. 554 (1864). 



Habitat Maderenses (P to S to ) et Canarienses (Lanz., Fuert., Can., 

 Gom.\ in locis similibus ac praecedens, et forsan ejus mera va- 

 rietas depauperata. 



Examples which agree with the European A. binotata of Kraatz 

 were taken by myself in Porto Santo, of the Madeiran Group, in 

 company with the A. nitida from which they are barely separable ; 

 and I have captured others in Lanzarote, Euerteventura, Grand 



