.] 8ERRICORNIA. 183 



ago tins insect used to be somewhat of a rarity, and was confined to towns, but it has 

 gradually spread and established itself even iu the remotest country villages. 



N. crenatus, F. (minutus, III ; Tipnus crenatus, Thorns.). Of a 

 dark brown colour, moderately thickly clothed with greyish pubescence ; 

 antennae rather short ; thorax as long as broad, roundish quadrangular, 

 with a more or less distinct longitudinal central furrow ; scutellum 

 indistinct; elytra much broader than thorax, strongly convex, narrowed 

 to base, with strongly crenate striae, interstices slightly elevated ; legs 

 rather short, with the femora scarcely clavate at apex, tarsi short. L. 

 2-3 mm. 



In old wood, Ac. ; occasionally found in birds' nests and about houses ; local, and 

 as a rule not common ; London ; Suffolk ; Glanvilles Wootton ; Devon ; Swansea ; 

 Birmingham district ; Repton ; Lincoln ; Scarborough ; Pendleton, near Manchester, 

 in bakehouses ; Northumberland and Durham district ; Scotland, in old houses, 

 Solway, Forth, Tay, Dee, and Moray districts ; Ireland, Armagh and Dublin, 



HEDOBXA, Sturm, 



This genus contains about eight species from Europe, Algeria, the 

 Isle of France, and Mexico ; they are, in spite of their small size, very 

 striking and handsome insects, by reason of their distinct markings ; 

 Dr. Horn includes Hedobia and Eucrada under a separate tribe, 

 Eucradini, which he separates from the Ptinini on the grounds that the 

 antennae are widely separated at base, and that the elytra are always 

 cylindrical and do not embrace the flanks ; one of the chief characters, 

 however, of Hedobia lies in the very short and broad fifth joint of the 

 tarsi; Keitter and others consider Hedobia to be quite distinct from the 

 Ptinidae, and in the catalogue of Heyden, Keitter, and Weise it is placed 

 after Anobium and Eiiwbitts with Ptilinus and Ochina, a position which 

 in some respects seems certainly a reasonable one. There are five 

 European species, of which one only occurs in Britain. 



B. imperialis, L. Oblong, of a dark chocolate-brown colour, 

 clothed with whitish squamose pubescence; head rather long, strongly 

 pubescent, with eyes somewhat prominent, antennae ferruginous, long 

 and rather robust, feebly serrate; thorax very much narrower than 

 elytra, somewhat constricted in front, with a patch of white pubescence 

 on each side behind middle ; scutellum distinct, quadrangular ; elytra 

 closely and somewhat rugosely punctured, with the apex, shoulders, a 

 large patch at base narrowing triangularly to suture, the suture itself, 

 and a white spot on each side behind middle clothed with whitish 

 pubescence ; these markings are somewhat variable, and often more or 

 less confluent; the shoulders are square and well marked; legs ferru- 

 ginous, last joint of tarsi very short and broad. L. 4-5| mm. 



In old hedges, Ac. ; occasionally taken on the wing ; rather widely distributed in 

 England and Wales, but, as a rule, not common ; London district, not uncommon, 



