32 HETEROMERA. [CtenioptlS. 



impressed on each side, and with the sides a little dilated before middle ; 

 the sixth ventral segment of abdomen is simple. 



The male is very variable in colour, and the varieties are classed bj 

 Thomson as follows: 



a. Head, antennae, palpi and anal segment black. 



b. As the preceding, but with the thorax also black. 



c. Fusco-sulphureous, with the legs bright sulphur-yellow, and the head, thorax, 

 antennae and palpi black. 



In some specimens the tarsi and almost the whole of the antennae are 

 black. 



A coast species ; occurring on flowers, rushes, &c. ; local, but common where it 

 occurs; Deal; Dover; Folkestone; Hastings; Isle of Wight ; Weymouth ; Chesil 

 Beach ; Land's Eud ; Lnudy Island ; Burnham, Somerset; Swansea ; Tenby; Brandon, 

 Suffolk ; Huustantou, Norfolk ; Mr. Chappell records it from Kendal. 



OMOPHLUS, Solier. 



This is a rather large genus, containing upwards of sixty or seventy 

 species, which appear to be confined to Europe, Northern and Central 

 Asia, and the circum-Mediterranean districts ; of the thirty-two European 

 species only one occurs in Britain ; it may be known from Cteniopus by 

 the more transverse thorax, which is pilose and has the posterior angles 

 obtuse or rounded, and the shorter and stouter antennae. 



O. armeriae, Curt, (amerince, auct. ; pubescens, Muls.). Oblong, 

 elongate, depressed, shining black with the elytra testaceous-brown ; 

 head and thorax clothed with long hairs, the former rather coarsely 

 punctured, the latter transverse, closely and finely punctured, uneven on 

 disc, with the sides slightly rounded ; antennae black, pitchy towards 

 base ; elytra broader than thorax, clothed with very short pubescence, 

 with shall jw and more or less obsolete striae, interstices very closely and 

 distinctly punctured ; legs rather long, black, apex of tibiae, and the 

 tarsi, ferruginous. L 7-8 mm. 



Male smaller and narrower than female, with the antennae considerably 

 longer. 



On Armeria marltlma ; extremely local ; I know of no locality except Weymouth, 

 where it has been taken in some numbers on and near the Cliesil Beach by Mr. Dale, 

 Mr. Harris, Mr. Blatch and others. 



MELANDRYID.E. 



This family, according to the Munich catalogue, contains thirty-six 

 genera and one hundred and twenty species ; several have since been 

 added, and, at present, twenty-two genera and fifty-six species have 

 been found in Europe ; the remainder are widely distributed, but only 

 a comparatively small number occur in tropical countries. The following 

 are the chief characteristics of the family : Head not constricted behind, 



