280 RHYNCHOPHORA. [D 



evenly round -d, closely punctured on the dite, rugosely punctured to- 

 wards the sides, and with a distinct, smooth, dorsal carina ; elytra 

 rather long ovate, with the shoulders a little elevated, the sides dilated 

 and rounded, and with punctured striae, of which the punctures are 

 close and rather large ; legs rather short, entirely rufous or rufo- 

 testaceous ; femora armed with a small tooth L. 3-3| mm. 



On sallows; in June; rare; Wimbledon Common on dwarf sallows (S. Stevens); 

 Wimbledon (Power); Coombe (one specimen, June 15, 186'4 (Power) ); Yorkshire 

 ( Walton) ; Northumberland and Durham district, Hetton Hall, near Beiford (W. 

 B. Boyd). 



D. majalis, Payk. According to Walton this is the smallest species 

 of the genus, but on the average it does not appear to differ much in 

 size from the two preceding ; it is closely allied to D salicis, from 

 which it differs in having the rostrum not channelled, the thorax shorter, 

 and the elytra darker, especially towards base ; the colour, however, is 

 very variable and cannot be relied upon, as in D. salicis the elytra are 

 sometimes more or less fuscous in front ; the rostrum and thorax are 

 also variably coloured, the former being entirely black or partly red, 

 and the latter being dark, or reddish with a black patch, or entirely 

 red ; the thorax is slightly transverse, with the sides very little 

 rounded ; the rostrum is rather long and stout, rugose, but without 

 channels, and the elytra are variegated as in the allied species ; the male 

 has the antennae inserted further in front of middle of rostrum than in 

 the female, and the teeth of the femora stronger. L. 2-3 mm. 



On the catkins of Salix cinerea, caprea, aurita, &c., in May and June ; rare; a 

 northern species; Northumberland and Durham district, Twizt-11 and Castle Eden 

 Dene (Bold) ; near Carlisle (Heysham) ; Scotland, SoKvay district (Sharp); W;ilt,ou 

 mentions having received many specimens from the Rev. W. Little, taken by him in 

 Scotland ; Stephens (Manual, 235), records it from the London district, but this is 

 evidently in error ; he appears to have confused the male of D. agtiathus with the 

 species (vide Waterhouse's Catalogue, p. 75). 



In studying this genus it must be remembered that the general 

 colour of the body is extremely variable, the dark species, if immature, 

 being coloured precisely like the lighter ones ; this very much increases 

 the difficulty of their determination ; in some respects the genus, for its 

 size, is the most difficult of all the British Rhynchophora. 



In many of the descriptions and notes on this and other genera I am 

 much indebted to the valuable papers by Mr. Walton, published in the 

 Annals and Magazine of Natural History for 1844. 



SMICRONYCHINA. 



This tribe, which contains the genus Smicronyx, is included by Bedel 

 under the Erirrhinina, but differs in having the tarsal claws connate ; 

 in this latter respect it agrees with the Lixina, from which it may be 

 easily separated, apart from the very small size of its members, by 



