232 luiYNcnorflORA. [Smicroni/j.: 



loose way in which they are set on the surface they are exceedingly 

 easily abraded and very soon get rubbed off; specimens from which 

 they have been entirely removed are quite black and more or less shiny, 

 and present a very different appearance to fresh or half-abraded speci- 

 mens ; the species attack various parasitic plants, especially the Greater 

 and Leaser Dodder (Cuscuta europcea and epithymum) ; they deposit 

 their eggs in the stem and the larva lives in a sort of gall, from which 

 it emerges and buries itself in the earth before undergoing its transfor- 

 mations. 



I. Tarsal claws uneven, the internal claw being very 

 short; thorax finely punctured; elytra oval and 



shining, usually denuded of scales S. CCECU8, Reich. 



II. Tarsal claws equal ; upper surface usually more 



or less squainose. 



i. Thorax with shallow and rather close punctures, 

 duller, interspaces finely but plainly cross-reti- 

 culate ; body behind thorax broader S. REICHET, QylL 



ii. Thorax with very shallow and comparatively 

 diffuse punctures, less dull, interspaces more 

 finely and often scarcely evidently cross-reticu- 

 late; body behind thorax narrower S. JUNOERMANNLE, Reich. 



(cicur, Gyll.) 



S. coecus, Boh. (ctiscutce, Ch. Bris.). Oblong-ovate, black, shining, 

 with scanty narrow scales which are very easily rubbed off ; thorax 

 globose, narrowed in front, finely punctured ; elytra a little broader at 

 base than thorax, with the shoulders well marked, oval and shining, 

 Avith fine but distinct striae and finely sculptured interstices ; legs rather 

 stout, claws unequal, the inner one being very short ; size variable. L. 

 11-2 mm. 



On Cuscuta europcea ; two specimens, both without locality, one in the possession 

 of Mr. Champion from Mr. Scott's collection, and one in my own collection ; Bedel 

 gives as localities Northern and Central Europe. 



The Greater Dodder (Cuscuta europwd), according to Bentham, is 

 parasitic on a variety of plants, more especially on herbaceous stems, 

 in Europe and temperate parts of Asia ; it is not very abundant in 

 England, and has not been recorded with certainty either from Ireland 

 or Scotland. The Lesser Dodder (Cuscuta epithymum} is parasitic on 

 Thyme, Heath, and other small shrubby plants in Europe and temperate 

 Asia ; it is more frequent in England than the Greater Dodder, and 

 extends from the Chesil Beach to the south of Scotland, but is appar- 

 ently unknown in Ireland ; a third species, the Flax Dodder (Cuscuta 

 epiUnum), has been introduced into Britain with flax, but is not in- 

 digenous. 



S. Reichei, Gyll. (pygmceus, Curt. pars.}. Oblong-ovate, black, 

 rather shiny, closely covered, in fresh specimens, with whitish and 

 brownish white or brownish scales, which are arranged thickly on the 

 thorax and more or less in patches on the interstices of the elytra ; 



