Melnnotua.~\ SRRRICORNMA. 97 



In decaying wood ; Tonbridge (Horncr) ; Llangollen (Chappell) ; there were speci- 

 men* also in Mr. Trueman's Sherwood Forest collection; Scotland, Tay distrk-t, 

 Avieuiore and Uannocb (Foxcroft, &c.) 



ATHOT7S, Eschscholtz. 



This genus contains upwards of two hundred species, which are 

 almost entirely confined to the temperate and cold countries of the 

 northern hemisphere; of these one hundred and eleven are found in 

 Europe, of which only eight occur in Britain; two or three of these are 

 very rare, but A. h(emorrhoi<lalis (= A. ruficaudis, Steph.) is one of 

 our commonest beetles, and its larva, which does not call for any par- 

 ticular remark, sometimes commits considerable ravages in pastures and 

 cornfields. 



The larva of A. rhombeus is described and figured by Schiddte (Part v. p. 523, 

 pi. ix. fig. 12) ; it is less parallel-sided than is usually the case with its allies, and has 

 the segments of the abdomen a little narrowed in front and behind, so that the sides 

 are not even ; it is, however, chiefly remarkable for the fa^t that the dorsal scuta of 

 all the segments, with the exception of the prothorax, which is longer and not so 

 broad as the following, are very coarsely punctured, the punctures being large and 

 often more or less confluent ; the mandibles are very strong and projecting, and the 

 ninth abdominal segment is large, armed with short blunt teeth at sides, and termi- 

 nated by two short bifurcate cerci ; the colour is pale yellowish, with the head ami 

 dorsal scuta fuscous. The larva is carnivorous, and lives in decaying trunks of ash 

 and beech, where it devours the larvae of Lepturae and other beetles. 



The British species may be divided as follows; it is, however, rather 

 hard, in one or two cases, to describe the differences very distinctly, as 

 they vary considerably in colour, and the relative length of the joints 

 of the antennae and tarsi appears in some of the species to be rather a 

 misleading character, if too much relied upon : 



I. Antenna: serrate from the third joint ; second joint 



small ; size larger. 



i. Thorax broadly emarginate at apex, with posterior 

 ogles carinate, and not, or scarcely, divaricate. 



1. Upper surface brown ; third joint of antenna; fully 



as long, or longer than fourth A. RHOMBETS, Ol. 



2. Upper surface deep shining black ; third joint of 



antennae slightly shorter than fourth A. NIGER, L. 



ii. Thorax truncate at apex, with posterior angles not 



carinate, strongly divaricate A. UNDULATCS, De O. 



II. Antenna; scarcely serrate, almost filiform; sixe 



smaller. 



i. Anterior ooxic narrowly distant; male more elongate 

 and parallel-billed than the female, and with the 

 thorax more rectangular and longer in proportion 

 to its breadth. 



1. Upper surface duller ; punctuation of thorax closer 

 and thicker ; third joint of antenna) about three 

 times as long as second; third joint of tarsi almost 



concealed; size smaller A. LO.NGICOLLIS, Ol. 



2. Upper surface more shiny ; punctuation of 

 thorax less close; third joint of antenna- about 



VOL. IV. II 



