rORFICULID/E. FORFICULA. 5 



Fo. auricularia. LinnL — Wood, i. pi 30.— Steph. Catal. i. 299. No. 3299. 



Head ferruginouSj more or less dusky in front, eyes black ; thorax much 

 depressed^ black, with pale margins ; elytra about one-fourth the length of 

 the abdomen, pale red; abdomen of a rusty-black, or pitchy-red, the 

 margins of the segments sometimes paler; the apex in the males furnished 

 with a pair of abbreviated, somewhat semicircularly curved forceps, armed 

 with a tooth within at the base, meeting at the tip ; in the female they are 

 nearly straight, being faintly incurved towards the apex, and very finely 

 crenulated within ; in both sexes they are testaceous, with the apex dusky ; 

 legs very pale testaceous ; in immature specimens nearly white. 



The difference in the form of the forceps, exclusively of other distinctions, as 

 shown in the accompanying figures, will enable the reader to understand 

 the species. 

 Extremely abundant in gardens throughout England, and very 



injurious to flowers by destroying the petals, to the great annoyance 



of the floriculturists. 



Sp. 2. media. Plate xxviii.JI 2. forceps. — Capite ferrugineo oculis thoraceque 

 nigris, hoc marginibus elytris pedibusque pallidis, jhrcipe subelongata tenue, 

 pallida, infemina subincurvata. (Long. corp. 4| — 7^ lin.) 



Fo. media. Marsham.— Steph. Catal. i. 299. No. 3300. 



Head ferruginous ; eyes and thorax black, the margins of the latter broadly 

 pale ; elytra, legs, and forceps, very pale, the latter slightly elongate, very 

 slender, not semicircular, and in the females somewhat incurved at the 

 apex ; abdomen pale testaceous, dusky on the terminal segment ; antennas 

 pale. 



Not common ; found in the vicinity of London, and at " Cam- 

 bridge."" — C. C. Babington, Esq. 



Sp. 3. borealis. Plate xxviii. f. 3. forceps. — Capite toto ferrugineo, oculis 

 atris, thorace nigro marginibus pallidis, elytris testaceis, abdomineferrugineo- 

 testaceo, forcipe subelongata subellipticd piced basi pallida, infcemina subrecta, 

 apice decussata. (Long. corp. 7 — 10 lin.) 



Fo. borealis. Leach MS.— Steph. Catal. i. 299. No. 3301. 



Head entirely ferruginous ; eyes black ; thorax short, black, with the lateral 

 margins broadly pale; elytra dull-testaceous; abdomen rusty-testaceous, 

 somewhat pitchy at the base of each segment, and very finely punctured, 

 the terminal segment broad, very faintly punctured, with an obtuse lateral 

 protuberance, and at the apex two tubercles, with a small fovea between 

 them anteriorly ; forceps slightly elongated, the two sides forming some- 

 what of an elliptic figure, the base pale red, the inside and towards the apex 

 pitchy, at the base within a small tooth ; nearly straight, but similarly 

 coloured in the female ; legs pale-reddish. 

 Extremely abundant in some parts of the country, on oaks, espe- 



