226 BHYNCHOPHORA. [Sitones. 



and with the fifth ventral segment of the abdomen roundly truncate at 

 apex : in the female the same segment is quite rounded. 



On various Papilionacece, clover, vetches, peas, &c. ; only too common and gene- 

 rally distributed throughout the kingdom; it is hard to find a place, as Mr. Bye 

 observes, where this pest does not occur from earliest spring down to the foggiest and 

 dampest autumn evenings : the colour varies somewhat, being ordinarily brown, but 

 sometimes ochreous or even greenish grey : the shape of the thorax, however, long 

 parallel elytra, and slender antennae will serve to distinguish it. 



S. sulcifrons, Thunb. (subaurata, Steph., pleuriticus, Steph., 

 cJiloropus, Marsh). One of the smallest, if not the smallest of our 

 species; black; clothed with sparing metallic scales, which are always 

 more or less abraded, and as in S. snturalis are more or less reddish- 

 coppery or greenish ; head with a broad excavation from eye to eye, 

 eyes somewhat prominent, often yellowish, antennas ferruginous ; thorax 

 as long as, or longer than, broad, with the sides slightly rounded, very 

 closejy but distinctly and moderately strongly, although shallowly, 

 punctured ; elytra short, with distinct punctured striae, which are 

 obsolete at apex ; femora dark, tibiae and tarsi red ; breast pubescent 

 with the side pieces of meso- and metasternum plainly clothed* with 

 whitish or greyish scales; occasionally the legs are entirely ferruginous; 

 the species, perhaps, most closely resembles S. suturalis, but the small 

 size, frontal excavation, more prominent eyes, and scantier scales will 

 serve to separate it. L. 2|-3 mm. 



By sweeping clover, lucerne, vetch, &c. ; especially in damp places ; not so abund- 

 ant as some species, but generally distributed throughout the kingdom, and, as a rule, 

 common ; it is often plentiful on the south coast, and Dr. Sharp records it as common 

 in Scotland. 



Thomson (Skand. Col. vii. 96) says that the female has the forehead 

 level between the eyes, but in this he seems to have made some 

 mistake. 



GRONOPINA. 



This tribe is represented in Europe by the genera Gronops and Rliyti- 

 dorrMnus ; these are usually placed under the Byrsopina, which latter 

 tribe, as remarked by Bedel (I.e. p. 74) is very distinct from the fact of 

 having the intermediate coxae contiguous ; its members, moreover, are 

 confined to Southern Africa ; one species, only, belonging to the genus 

 Gronops is found in Britain ; Thomson includes it under the Bagoina, 

 to which it is in some points related. 



GRONOPS, Schonherr. 



This genus contains only about a dozen species which are, however, 

 widely distributed from Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope ; the 

 single British species is a small dull rugose insect, which is found at the 



