74 STAPHYLINID/E. 



Briti.sh insect is almost the same length as B. fracticornis,h\\t is slightly- 

 broader ; it has thicker legs, the elytra are bright red, more or less 

 blackish about the base and suture ; tlie thorax is broader, so as to be 

 distinctly transverse, and the hind angles have not so completely dis- 

 appeared. In the male, the membrane on the margin of the fifth ventral 

 segment is less extensive, and there is no angle formed on the hind 

 margin at its junction with the harder tissue. 



This variety was found in Yorkshii-e (Scarborough or neighbourhood) 

 by W. Lawson ; four of the specimens are in Mr. Champion's and Dr. 

 Sharp's collections. Dr. Sharp possesses two others, one taken in 

 Hammersmith Marshes, May 2, 1868; and there is one in the collection 

 of Mr. de la Garde, originally from the Crotch collection. 



B. fracticornis var. sharpi, var. nov. In the same article [I.e. 

 p. 59), Dr. Sharp says that there is a male Bledhrs in Mr. Champion's collec- 

 tion, belonging to this group, which he cannot reconcile with my descrip- 

 tion. It is slightly larger than B.fracticorm.s, and has the elytra of a daik 

 red colour. The tifth venti-al segment is abruptly and deeply emarginate, 

 the emargination being longer and narrower than in the type B. fracti- 

 cornis, or in var. ketior. Mr. Champion's specimen came from Dr. Power, 

 and similar specimens in Dr. Power's collection are labelled as having 

 been taken at Brentford. Dr. Sharp possesses a specimen which he doubt- 

 fully records as from flood refuse on the banks of the Nith, near Thorn- 

 hill, Dumfriesshirp, September 4, 1875. It is best to name the variety 

 which may very likely be regarded in the future as a separate species, 

 B. sharpi. In the Bates collection there is a long series of this insect, 

 taken by Hai'ris, and labelled "Severn Side, August (1st, Monday), 1881." 



B. femoralis, Gyll. This species comes extremely close to /i./"r«c^i- 

 cornis, but is on the average a little smaller, with the legs and base of 

 the antennpe somewhat darker, and the male characters more pronounced, 

 there being a veiy distinct tooth on each side of the fifth ventral segment 

 at the junction of the membranous part with tiie harder part. The 

 elytra vary from black to brown-red. This insect is much commoner 

 than B . fracticornis in the South of England, but has not been recorded 

 from the North. Until recently, it has been regarded as very rai'e indeed, 

 but it has evidently been confused with B. fracticornis in collections. 



B. fuscipes. Rye (Ent. Mo. Mag. ii. 18G5, p. 154). Bargus ra.stellvs, 

 Schiodte, Naturhist., Tidskr., 1S()6, p. 141). Dr. Sharp has examined a 

 series of Schiiidte's insects from the Copenhagen Museum, and found 

 them identical with the original examples of B. ftiscipes captured by 

 himself and Mr. Rye on the shores of the Firth of Forth, near Aber- 

 lady, in June 1805. The species has a wide range, occurring in the 

 estuaries of the Mersey (Liverpool) and the Tor (N. Devon). The 

 individuals from various localities differ somewhat in size and colour, 

 but there is no real difference between them. A long series taken by 

 Mr. Bishop and Dr. Sharp at Forres, in 1910, are rather smaller and 

 darker, the legs being sometimes nearly black, and they have the thorax 

 rather shorter. The Mersey specimens closely resemble these. In a 



