202 MANDIBULATA. COLEOPTERA. 



Var. (8. Steph. Catal. I. c. With the elytra black at the base, the apex more or 

 less irregularly striated with griseous. 



Var. y. Steph. Catal. 1. c. With the elytra griseous, striated with black, with 

 irregular longitudinal streaks of black between. 



Var. J. Steph. Catal. I. c. — With the elytra griseous, striated with black, the 

 interstices immaculate. 



Every possible shade of variation may be obtained in this inconstant species in 

 the proportions of the two colours with which the elytra are covered: in 

 some examples the elytra are of a dull nearly uniform black, while in others 

 they are of a pale lurid griseous, with the striae alone slightly suffused with 

 dusky : the form of this insect (at least in my very extensive series) is totally 

 different from that of Ap. nigripes, which I have no hesitation in considering 

 totally distinct from the present. 



Far from uncommon in the neighbourhood of London, and I be- 

 lieve in many other parts of the kingdom. " Near 5fork."- — W. C. 

 Hezvitson, Esq. " Bottisham." — Rev. L. Jenyns. " Epping." — 

 Mr. Doubleday. " Common (near Swansea)." — L. W. Dillwyn, 

 Esq. 



2. The body slightly convex ; with the clypeus somewhat emarginate. 



Sp. 40. contaminatus. Oblongus, niger, wneo nitens, thorace subquadrato, la- 

 ■ teribusciliato, elytris pubescentibus griseis, maculis minoribus fuscis. (Long, 

 corp 2^—3 lin.) 



Ap. contaminatus. Fabricius.— Steph. Catal. 112. No. 1154. 



Black, with a brassy gloss: clypeus obscurely emarginate in front, the disc 

 smooth, with an oblong testaceous spot within the anterior margin on each side : 

 thorax large, subquadrate, with the angles rounded, the anterior with a tes- 

 taceous spot ; the lateral margins ciliated with long hairs, the disc very smooth : 

 elytra griseous, densely clothed with a short cinereous pile, punctate-striated, 

 with an elongate stria beneath the shoulders, a small spot adjoining the apex 

 of the latter, and two double ones on the disc, in the middle towards the 

 suture, one behind the other: body beneath pitchy, with the apex pale: 

 legs pale, with the joints dusky. 



The ciliated lateral margins of the thorax of this species at once point out its 

 distinction. 



Most abundant, not only throughout the metropolitan district, 

 but throughout the kingdom, frequenting high roads, where scat- 

 tered dung abounds, and flying about in the sun during the day, 

 so early as February or March, and continuing throughout the 

 summer. " Common near Swansea." — L. W. Dillwyn, Esq. 



