STAPHYLINID.^. 57 



metallic reflection, violaceous in immature examples ; abdomen less 

 iridescent ; legs black or pitch-black with the anterior tibife and all the 

 tarsi more or less red. L. 8J-1) mm. 



Male with the two penultimate ventral segments of the hind body 

 furnished with rather conspicuous tufts of black hairs at apex ; these 

 are present in Q. mesomelinus but appear to be less distinct. 



First recorded as British by Mr. Champion (Ent. Mo. Mag. xxxii. 

 (2 Ser. vii.), 1896, 50) on a single specimen taken by Mr. \V. H. Tuck 

 near Bury St. Edmunds in a nest of Bomhus hortorum ; afterwards taken 

 by Mr. Ernest Bed well beneath a log by a sluice on the beach near a 

 rabbit warren at Kessingland, Suffolk. Mr. Morley, who records this 

 (Ent. Mo. Mag. xxxiv. (2 Ser. ix.), 1898, 267) gives a drawing of the 

 maxilla as compared with that of two allied species, but this is often a 

 variable character. Mr. Champion in the same place (p. ^%>>) records a 

 second specimen from Tostock, Bury St. Edmunds, and it has occurred 

 since in a few localities ; Barton Broad (Joy) ; in moles' nests not un- 

 common, Plymouth (Keys) ; near Cambridge in moles' nests, and in 

 sand-pit and wasps' nests, Ditchling (Dollman) ; Oulton Broad (Beare 

 and Donisthorpe) ; Woking (Champion) ; Exeter (Nicholson). It is 

 found rarely in France in the sand and under stones in damp caves. 

 Mulsant and Rey. (I.e. p. 505) also describe the larva of Q. nigro- 

 cceruleus ; it is said to live in caves with the perfect insect, and does 

 not present any striking peculiarity except that the first joint of the 

 cerci is considerably shorter than the anal process. 



Q. talparum, Deville (Bull. Soc. Ent. Franc. 1910, 158), vexans, 

 Brit. Col. nee Eppl. Deutsch. Ent. Zeit. 1881, xxv. p. 297. This 

 species is most nearly related to Q. hrevicornis, from which it may be 

 distinguished by having the head always at least as long as broad, the 

 eyes smaller, the shape more parallel-sided and the average size smaller; 

 the penultimate joints of the antennae are less strongly transverse ; 

 the apical border of the last dorsal segment of the abdomen is often, 

 but not always, yellowish, and the hind body is slightly duller and more 

 closely punctured than in Q. hrevico7-nis. The small size of the eyes, 

 as pointed out by Dr. Joy, who first introduced the species as British 

 (under the name of vexans, Eppl.), is an important character, and in 

 this respect the insect is allied to Q. longicornis, which evidently 

 inhabits much the same situations. L. 10-11 mm. 



Found by Dr. Joy near Bradfield in moles' nests, to which it is 

 apparently exclusively attached. It is very widely distributed in 

 Britain. I have one or two specimens in my collection without 

 locality which probably occurred in flood rubbish. Dr. Joy (Ent. Mo. 

 Mag. xlii. (2 Ser. xvii.), 190G, 201) adds a note to the eflect that 

 a difierence in the habits of Q. falparum and Q. hrevicornis is of 

 much interest. Q. hrevicornis is found in old birds' nests, and when 

 one of these is being examined for beetles it will lie quiet for a very 

 long time, and will not attempt to run until it knows it is discovered. 

 Q. tal^Mrum runs off at a great pace at the first alarm. The latter would 



