40 STAPH YLINIDiE. 



There is considerable confusion as to the synonymy of this species ; 

 according to Thomson A. mcesta, Grav., is synonymous with A. sparsa, 

 Heer. ; but according to Ganglbauer (Die Kiifer von Mitteleuropa, ii. 

 p. 38, 41), the latter species is synonymous with A. succicola, Thorns. ; if 

 the latter is right, Heer's name must have the priority. 



EXALEOCHARA, Keys, Nov. gen. 

 This genus has been formed by Mr. J. H. Keys ( Ent. Mo. Mag. xliii. 

 (2 Ser. xviii.), p. 102), for the reception of the small Staphylinid hitherto 

 known as Aleochara morion, Grav. {BaTyodtaa 'morion, Muls. et Rey.) ; 

 this insect possesses tarsi with 4.5.5 joints, whereas the Aleochai'ina have 

 all the tar.si five-jointed ; at first sight therefore it ought to be trans- 

 ferred to the jMyrmedoniina, but it possesses the small accessory joint 

 of the palpi which is characteristic of the genus Aleochara, and is 

 therefore intermediate between the two tribes and aflbrds another 

 proof of the impossibility of obtaining really reliable characters for 

 classification in large series ; in spite of the accessory joint of the palpi, 

 we should be inclined to place it under the Myrmedoniina, for we are 

 of opinion that the tarsal formula is the more important character. 



OXYPODA, Mannerheim. 



OxyjMcla metatarsal is, Thoms. (Skand Col. ix. 246, 1807), intro- 

 duced by the Rev. H. S. Gorham as British (Ent. Mo. Mag. xlii. (2 Ser. 

 xviii.) 53) on some examples taken at Mathon, near Malvern, by himself 

 and Mr. Tomlin, is synonymous with 0. longij^es, Muls, et Rey., Opusc. 

 Ent. xii. (18(51) 102, 234, which has been included for a very long time 

 in our lists on the strength of a single specimen taken at Aberlady, in 

 the Forth district of Scotland, by Dr. Sharp. It has turned up in 

 several localities in various parts of the kingdom in moles' nests, and 

 seems fairly common near Oxford. I am indebted to Mr. Collins, of 

 the University Museum, for several specimens. The species is most 

 closely allied to 0. vittata, Maerk, from which it difl'ers in having the 

 second joint of the posterior tarsi longer in pi'oportion to the first, the 

 antennae longer and thinner, and the legs more infuscate (in 0. vittata 

 they are clear yellow). The colour of the elytra, as a rule, appears 

 to be more sharply defined. 



O. perplexa, Muls. et Rey., Ann. Soc. Linn., Lyon, vii. 18G0, 

 359 ; Opusc. Ent. xii. 1861, 106. Reddish-brown, very finely and 

 thickly pubescent, slightly shiny, with the head and the middle seg- 

 ments of the abdomen black, the mouth parts reddish-yellow, and the 

 legs ferruginous ; antennae slightly thickened towards the apex, third 

 joint somewhat shorter than second, fourth to tenth each a little thicker, 

 sixth to tenth slightly transverse. Thorax transverse, strongly narrowed 

 in front, with bluntly rounded posterior angles, finely and thickly 

 punctured ; elytra somewhat longer than thorax, plainly emaiginate 

 on their hind edge before the exterior angles, very thickly and some- 



