100 HETEROMERA. 



narrowed towards apex, and the legs more elongate ; last ventral seg- 

 ment of abdomen longitudinally cleft, and penultimate segment emar- 

 ginate. 



Female with the antennae much shorter, slightly thickened towards 

 apex, and the legs less elongate ; last ventral segment of abdomen 

 entire. 



In and about the nests of Anthophora ; rare, but has once or twice been found in 

 some numbers ; old wall at Hammersmith (S. Stevens) ; Weston on tbe Green, 

 Oxfordshire, in nests of Anthophora retusa ( Matthews) ; Stephens records it from 

 Ken', Chelsea, New Forest, Oxford, Devonshire and Warwickshire. 



Fabricius. (Cantharis, auct nee L.) 



This is a very large and extensive genus, containing about two hun- 

 dred and fifty species, which are very widely distributed, and range from 

 Siberia to South Africa, India and Brazil ; the majority, however, are 

 found in warm or tropical countries ; they are remarkable for their 

 vesicant or blistering properties, and are widely used in medicine; the 

 type of the genus is L. vesicatoria, which is the only species found in 

 Britain : it is, however, very rare in this country, but its ordinary name, 

 the "Spanish fly," shows that its home is in the south of Europe, 

 where it is found in great abundance about the middle of summer, 

 frequenting the ash, privet, syringa, lilac, &c., and emitting a very 

 powerful odour; only nine other species occur in Europe ; the important 

 genus Mylabris (Zonabris, Har.), is not represented in our country ; it 

 contains upwards of three hundred species, of which between forty and 

 fifty occur in Europe ; several of the species have vesicatory properties, 

 but they do not appear to be quite as strongly developed as in Lytta. 



The species of Lytta are elongate and elegant insects, which in many 

 cases are very brightly coloured ; they may at once be known from 

 Meloe and Sitaris by the long parallel-sided elytra, which have a straight 

 suture and are not divaricate, being at most a little parted at apex; the 

 head is large, and the antennae filiform, with the second joint very small; 

 the eyes are transverse and slightly emarginate ; the palpi have the last 

 joint ovate ; the thorax is not margined and is transverse and gradually 

 narrowed behind ; the scutellum is large and inserted in the neck of the 

 elytra ; the legs are long with the last tarsal joint cylindrical and not bi- 

 lobed ; in the males the anterior tibiae are furnished at apex with a very 

 strong broad spur, and the first joint of the tarsi is notched so as to enable 

 the insect, with the help of the spur, to retain hold of the antennae in the 

 female ; the anterior tibiae in the female terminate in two spurs, and 

 the first joint of the tarsi is not emarginate ; the peculiar principle of 

 the insect is termed Cantharidin, and, as recorded by Westwood, on the 

 analysis of Robiquet, is a white substance in small crystalline plates, 

 insohible in water, but soluble in boiling alcohol ; owing to its volatility 

 and very active properties great care has to be taken in its preparation ; 



