Mcdthinus.'] SERRICORXIA. 147 



in front, posterior angles prominent, punctuation rugose ; elytra longer 

 in male than in female, broader than thorax, rugosely and obsoletely 

 punctured; legs reddish with tibiae and tarsi more or less infuscate. 

 L. 3-3^ mm. 



In the mule the head is broader and the antennae are nearly as long as 

 the body; in the female the head is narrower and the antennas are short, 

 scarcely half as long as the body. 



By beating fir trees, and by sweeping the grass underneath them ; not common ; 

 Esher, Ripley, Shirley, Ashtead, Birch Wood; Brandon, Suffolk; Glanville.i 

 Wootton ; New Forest; Somerset; Swansea; Hunstanton, Norfolk; Yardley, near 

 Birmingham ; Cannock . Chase ; Repton ; Bretby, near Burton-on-Trent ; Kipon ; 

 Bowdon, Cheshire ; Dunham Park, Manchester ; Scotland, Braemar and Aviemore. 



MAXiTHODES, Kiesenwetter. 



This genus contains about a hundred and twenty species, of which 

 about a hundred are found in Europe ; a few have been described from 

 North America and Ceylon ; in general appearance they closely resemble 

 Afalfltiitufi, but are distinguished by having the mandibles without a 

 tooth, the antennae inserted near eyes, and the head and thorax almost 

 smooth or finely punctured; eleven species occur in Britain ; they are 

 hard to arrange in a table, as the externally evident differences are in 

 many cases slight and misleading, and the chief distinctions are found 

 in the sexual characters; the table given below must therefore be 

 regarded as merely provisional, and must only be taken in conjunction 

 with the detailed descriptions ; the species vary very much in size. 



I. Elytra with the apex of a bright sulphureous 



yellow colour.* 

 i. Thorax plainly margined at sides throughout. 



1. Head without eyes as broad as, or broader 



than, thorax. 



A. Thorax with a very narrow yellow border 



on all margins M. MABGINATC8, Lair. 



B. Thorax with a very narrow yellow border 



at base, and sometimes at apex . . . . M. MYSTICUS, Kies. 



2. Head without eyes slightly narrower than 



thorax. 



A. Elytra longer ; thorax unicolorous black . M. ?L1VOOUTTATU8, Kies. 



B. Elytra shorter ; thorax, as a rule, with a 



more or less broad yellow border .... M. GUTTIFKB, Kiel. 

 ii. Thorax not or scarcely margined in middle of 

 tides, with anterior angles projecting. 



1. Thorax unicolorous black ; size larger . . . M. DISPAB, Germ. 



2. Thorax with margins more or less broadly red 



or reddish ; size smaller. 

 A. Colour duller, more or less livid ; elytra 

 longer in proportion M. PBLLCCIDUS, Kie. 



* In M. mysticus the elytra arc sometimes unicolorous, without yellow apex. 



L 2 



