/si:// nixies.'} SERHICollNIA. 93 



Z. siiniruinicollis. Pan/. Klongato, narrowed in front and behind, 

 clothed with lilackish pubescence, colour shining black with the thorax 

 bright red; head e, :u>ely punctured, antennae rather long, black or 

 pitchy, strongly seirate; thorax gradually narrowed from base to apex, 

 much narrower in front than at base, finely and not closely punctured, 

 rior angles sharply projecting and finely carinate ; sentellam large, 



closely puneturcd ; elytra gradually narrowed from base to apex, with 

 distinct punctured stria?, interstices rather thickly and coarsely punc- 

 tured, somewhat rugose; legs black or fuscous, tarsi often reddish. L. 



.* I. 1 mm. 



In rotten elm, oak, maple, &c. ; very local and, as a rule, rare, but it has occa- 

 sionally been found in numbers ; Hhicklieatli (West); Sheerness ; Esher (Power) in 

 black Vunjrus on old elm ; Stockwell, Surrey ; Greenwich ; banks of the Isis near 

 Oxford, in rotten wood, and Sutton (Surrey) flying (Uev. A. Matthews); Stephens 

 records it from Kensington Gardens, Copenhagen Fields, Southern!, Norfolk, and 

 Windsor. 



IMEGAPENTHES, Kiesenwetter. 



Both this and the preceding genus are distinguished from Elater by 

 not having the prosternal sutures exiavate in front; from Iitchnoilr* 

 the present genus may be at once known by having the second and third 

 joints of the antennae very small and of about equal size, and the thorax 

 more parallel-sided; the genus contains about forty species, which are 

 very widely distributed, but occur chiefly in tropical countries; four 

 of these inhabit Europe, of which two are found very rarely in Britain ; 

 these may be distinguished as follows: 



I. Upper surface dull ; thorax shagrecued between punc- 

 tures M. LFGEN8, Redt. 



II. Upper surface shining; thorax rather diffusely punctured 

 on <lisc, more closely at sides, not shagreeued between 



punctures M. TIBTALIS, Lac. 



M. lug-ens, Redt. (Ectinns aterrimns, Curt., nee L., Steph., <fcc. ; 

 Ainjil>ti< tiut/iracinus, l)ej.). Elongate, gradually narrowed towards 

 apex, deep Mack, very dull, clothed with thin greyish putasccnce ; 

 head closely punctured, antennae in both sexes longer than the head and 

 thorax ; thorax considerably longer than broad, with sides subparallel, 

 but gradually rounded and narrowed in front, posterior angles sharp and 

 projecting, very strongly carinate, upper surface covered with small fine 

 and shallow sotigerous umbilicate punctures, interspaces shagreened and 

 dull; scutellum rather large, pointed at apex, thickly punctured; elytra 

 not quite as broad as thorax with the sides straight gradually narrowed 

 to apex, with distinct coarsely punctured striae, interstices rather strongly 

 punrtured; legs pitchy black or pitchy brown, with the tarsi and knees 

 often reddish. L. 8-10 mm. 



Male with the antennae more strongly serrate than in female. 



