118 !Mr. F. Balfour-Brownc on the 



Hiint.s Cambs, Norfolk E., Suffolk E. nnd W., Middlesex, 

 Surrey, Sussex E., and Kent E. and W. It also ocoitrs in 

 tlie I>'le of Man. 



77. riiJicoUis is a typical pond-?pccies and beconie^^ rare in 

 peaty districts, so that it may well be absent from large 

 tracts of Scotland and Ireland. 



In the section dealing ■with the puncturation of the elytra 

 of the female, I mentioned that I had impunctate continental 

 speciniens which I was unable to determine as between this 

 species and 7/. heydeni. These females are larger than British 

 Jiei/Jeiii, and they seem rather broader and with rather more 

 deejdy j)nnctured elytral striro than our rvficoUis, and we are 

 therefoie faced with the question whether there is another 

 species, 77. imiltipunctdtus^ Wehncke, to be recognized in this 

 group, and, as Sharp (20) believes that he has a British female 

 specimen of this species, it is necessary that I should thus refer 

 to it in this paper. I can only say that among the con- 

 tinental specimens in my possession I can find no male which 

 can be a^■snciated with these larger im|)unctate females, except 

 that of riifjcoJUs, but I do not notice lli;it these rxificollis have 

 a less prominent ajdeagal hood than our British specimens. 

 Personally, being what Darwin called a "whole-hogger" 

 rather than a " hair-splitter," I should hesitate to regard 

 80 small a difference as anything more than a varietal 

 distinction. 



General Summary of Characters. — 

 fl. General form: elytra widest close behind the shoulders and 

 narrowing rather strongly so that the apex is rather acute. 



2. Thorax apparently- more than twice as broad as long, the sides 

 . J curved and strongly convergent. 



■ 1 3. Thoracic strite variable ; perhaps most usually short and 

 straight, but not infrequently somewhat incurved. 

 I 4. Elytra with the black lines almost always broken and spreading 

 t_ out into patches of colour, 



fl. Ant. tarsal claws unequal, both comparatively straight near 



apex (cf. H. welmckei). 

 I 2. Apical segment of ant. tarsus rather long (cf. H. welmckei and 

 (5 . -^ im m aciila tus). 



3. The three basal segments of ant. tarsi with dense pads of hairs 

 on under side (cf. II. we/mckei). 



4. Basal segu;ent of median tarsus not excised on posterior side. 



( 1. Elytra in most Britannic specimens with fine puncturation all 

 I over. On the continent this form seems to be rare, the 



5 .-^ elytra usually varying from smooth in the ant. half to smooth 



I nearly all over. borne Britannic specimens have elytra 



1^ smooth in ant. half. 



The sedeagus of this species is sufficiently described already, 

 as the diagrammatic figure and the accompanying descrip- 

 tion are founded upon it. 



