Hypera.] BHYNCHOPHORA. 237 



men impressed with a small round f ovea and broadly sinuate on each side 

 at apex. 



On various Leguminoste, especially Lotus : the larva has been observed on Anthyllit 

 rulneraria ; somewhat local and not abundant, but very widely distributed from the 

 Midland counties southwards : Wallasey, Cheshire (rare) ; it appears to become rarer 

 further north, although Mr. Bold records it as not infrequent in the Northumberland 

 and Durham district ; Scotland, very rare, Solvvay district only ; Ireland, Armagh 

 (Johnson). 



H. nigrirostris, F. (ciridis, Prov.). A small and very well-known 

 and easily distinguished species ; pitchy-black, clothed with uniform 

 green (sometimes light brown) hair-like scales, with the head and three 

 more or less obsolete lines on thorax lighter ; head finely punctured ; 

 thorax with the sides rather strongly rounded ; elytra with fine punc- 

 tured striae, uniformly clothed with rich green scales, which are some- 

 times spotted Avith fuscous and sometimes entirely brown, raised setae on 

 interstices white and distinct ; antennae red with club dark, legs red 

 with dark femora. L. 3^-4 mm. 



Male with the anterior tibiae rather strongly curved, the abdomen 

 broadly impressed at base, and the last ventral segment broadly sinuate 

 at each side and broadly impressed in middle ; the point of insertion 

 of the antennae is also a little different in the sexes. 



On various species of clover ; often in moss and haystack refuse ; the larva has also 

 been observed on Ononis spinosa ; abundant and generally distributed throughout the 

 kingdom ; it is one of the commonest of the British Curculionidae. 



The V. ononinis (Stevens) is a rather large form of the brown variety 

 of this common insect ; Mr. Stevens tells rue that he took all the speci- 

 mens (which agree among themselves) " on Ononis and not on clover 

 which nigirostris frequents " ; at first sight it looks very different to 

 ordinary specimens of the type form. 



LIXINA. 



This tribe contains about a dozen European genera of which four are 

 represented in Britain : they are, for the most part, oblong or elongate- 

 oblong insects (except in the case of Larinu*), with the rostrum broad and 

 stout and, as a rule, nearly as broad as the head ; many of the species 

 are large and conspicuous and very prettily marked insects ; some of them 

 (as for instance Lixus tricolor) have the power of secreting a dusty pollen- 

 like matter, of a whitish, yellowish or reddish colour, which occasion- 

 ally hides completely the sculpture and pubescence ; according to Bedel 

 the insect has the power of renewing this secretion, if accidentally 

 rubbed. 



Our four genera may be distinguished as follows, but the characters 

 are not altogether satisfactory in one or two cases. 



I. Rostrum very short and stout, about as long as head; 



tibiae with long raised hairs on their exterior margin . RHIXOCYLLCS, Germ. 



