STAPHYLINID^. 47 



ii. Posterior angles of thorax more produced ; 

 L. 2|-3 mm. 



1. Head with a longitudinal furrow; sides of 

 elytra more explanate ; penultimate joints of 



antennfe more transverse . . . . D. dentata, Grav. 



2. Head with a distinct impression ; sides of 

 elytra less explanate, occasionally serrate ; 



penultimate joints of antennje less transverse D. hagensi, Wasm. 

 II. Thorax scaicely broader than elytra ; head 



with a distinct furrow ; L. 2^2f mm. . . D. pygalea, Wasm, 



HOMALOTA, Auct. 

 H, (Dacrila) pruinosa, Kr., Naturg. der Insect. Deutsch, ii, 228. 

 Narrow, sub-parallel, dull black, with the elytra dark pitchy castaneous, 

 and the base of the antennje and the legs testaceous-brown or yellowish 

 with the femora darker ; tarsi light ; upper surface extremely finely 

 punctured throughout and with very fine and close greyish pubescence ; 

 head nai*rower than thoi'ax, antennae moderately long, gi'adually 

 thickened, with the penultimate joints plainly, but not strongly, 

 transverse, and the last joint long ; thorax sub-quadrate, slightly 

 broader than long, a little narrowei- than the elytra ; elytia plainly 

 longer than thorax ; hind body parallel, strongly margined ; sexual 

 difi'erences not marked, L. 2^ mm. 



Taken by Mr. Elliman at Chesham, Bucks, and introduced as 



British, by Mr. Champion (Ent. Mo. Mag. xxxiii. (2 Ser. viii.), 274). 



Subsequently taken by Champion on Guildford Downs. The species 



is widely distributed in the circum-Mediterranean region, and has 



been found in Austria. Its capture in Britain is very interesting. 



The species is most nearly allied to H. fallax, Ki-aatz, and 

 H. luteipes, Er., these three species being the only real European 

 representatives of Thomson's section Dilacra and Rey's section Dacrila. 

 H. clavigera, Scriba, Stett. Ent. Zeit., 1859, p. 414 (= Gyro- 

 ph(ena clavicornis, Epp., Deutsch Ent. Zeit., 1878, p. 40). Black, shining, 

 with the thorax and elytra sometimes pitchy, base of antennae and the 

 legs light testaceous ; upper surface with moderately distinct pubescence ; 

 head small, somewhat rounded, sub-parallel immediately behind the 

 eyes, with a shallow central channel ; antennte very short and strongly 

 thickened, joints 4-10 becoming more and more transvei'se, 11 about 

 as long as 9 and 10 united ; thorax transversely sub-quadrate, hind 

 body parallel, with the anterior segments sparingly and finely 

 punctured, and the posterior segments smooth. L. 2 mm. 



Discovered by Mr. Elliman of Chesham, Bucks, at Tring, in rotten 

 leaves in a ditch at the base of one of the southern slopes of the 

 Chiltern Hills : introduced by Mr. Champion as British (Ent. Mo. 

 Mag. xxxiv. (2 Ser. ix.), 266). 



The insect has the appearance of a GyropliKna, the head being 

 plainly narrower than the thorax, and the thorax than the elytra, and 



