DRYOPID^ (PARNID.^). 



135 



more or less unsatisfactory, although in some cases very valuable ; it 

 does not appear to be proved that the differences are always constant 

 in all cases, and the synonymy is still uncertain in several instances. 



Dr. Sharp has kindly drawn up for me the following table of 

 superficial differences, which will be found useful for determination. 



I. Hair short. 

 i. Club of antennfe long. 



1. Insect broad, pale 



2. Insect narrow, pale . 



3, Insect rather dark and moderately 

 broad ...... 



ii. Club of antennae short. 



1. Insect broad, slightly striate, brownish 



2. Insect narrow, greyish black 



II. Hair long. 



1. Insect broad, dark, coarsely and irre- 

 gularly sculptured • , , , 



Insect smaller, greyer, and more 

 regularly sculptured .... 



D, ANGLiCANUS, Eclwards. 

 De AuiiicuLATUS, Geoflr. 

 = 2^^'ol</ericornis,¥i\hv. sec 

 Ganglb. 



D. GRisEUS, Er. 



D. LURiDUS, Er. ■■= pro- 



lifericornis, Brit. Coll. 



D. STRiATELLUS, Fciirm. 



= algiricns, Brit. Coll., 



nee Luc. 



D. ERNESTi, Ees Gozis, 

 — auriculatas, Panz. et 

 Bi"it. Coll., nee Geoflr. 



D. NiTiDULUS, Ileer. 



By no means the last word has been said with regard to the British 

 species of this gen vis, and a great deal more work is needed at 

 examples from various localities before the question can be in any way 

 settled. 



D. (Parnus) luridus, Er. (Naturg. Ins. Deutsch. iii. (184-7) 

 513). Exceedingly closely allied to D. cmricvlatus, Geoflr. ( = iwolifer'i- 

 cornis, Fabr. and Brit. Cat.), and only to be distinguished with any 

 certainty by the formation of the male genitalia ; in auriculatus the 

 apex of the fedeagus is drawn out into a beak-like point ; in luridus 

 it is rounded ; in auriculalus the basal half is compressed into an 

 almost knife-like edge, and the side pieces {paramera) which form 

 the boundai-y of the sub-oval opening at the apex of the sedeagus 

 are thickened and widened at the base ; in luridns the a^deagus is not 

 compressed on its basal half, and the paramera are not thickened or 

 widened at base. The colour of the pubescence varies, in both species 

 being greyish-brown, or golden-brown, or whitish- or yellowish-grey ; 

 the forehead is usually more bluntly convex between tlie bases of the 

 antennae in 1). luridus, but this cannot be depended upon as a reliable 

 character ; the average size is considerably smaller than that of 

 D. auriculatus, L. 3J-4J mm. 



