48 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse's Descriptions of 



together witli the E. sanguineus, are the only three dark species 

 belonging to my first section, it would appear probable that the 

 insect just described was the E. sanguineus of Denny ; but tlie 

 colouring as given by that author, both in his figure and descrip- 

 tion, in being paler than that of the E. Reichenbachii (== E, nanus^, 

 is at variance with my observations. The description then, in 

 this respect, goes against the identification which 1 have made 

 with a note of doubt, and I cannot perceive that there is any 

 tangible character given by which the E. sanguineus could be dis- 

 tinguished either from the E. Reichenbachii or the E. Kirbii : it is 

 true that in the description of the former the little fovea on the 

 head is noticed (as it is likewise in Reichenbach's description), 

 whilst with regard to the E. sanguineus there is no mention made 

 of a foveola on the head, but then E. Kirbii has the foveola (more 

 strongly marked) and it is not noticed. On the whole, I strongly 

 suspect that the E. sanguinea of Denny will prove identical with the 

 E. Kirbii, for the elongate form of the specimen (" Kirbii") in the 

 British Museum, which seems to have influenced Denny in sepa- 

 rating it as a species, is only accidental. According to the de- 

 scription given by M. Aube, his E. sanguineus seems to differ in 

 no respect from E. signatus, excepting in being rather larger, and 

 of a darker colour. The author states that the insect is found in 

 melon beds in company with E. signatus, and that he has doubts 

 of its being distinct. These remarks cannot apply to the present 

 species, but they apply very closely to the insect which I take to 

 be E. nanus, in which the puncture on the crown of the head is 

 indistinct, and sometimes scarcely traceable. 



3. Euplectus Kirbii, Denny, Monogr. p. 14, pi. 2, fig. 1 (1825). 



Fischeri, Aube, Pselaphorum Monographia, p. 54, pi. 



9], f. 3 (1833). 



Reichenbachii, of Stephens's Collection. 



signatus, of Stephens's Collection. 



Pitchy-red, usually with the elytra of a darker colour than other 

 parts ; the dark colour, however, often confined to the hinder part 

 of the elytra. About the same size as E. nanus, but differs some- 

 what in colouring ; in having the head more rounded behind the 

 eyes, t!ie four fovese on the crown less distinct, and indeed con- 

 founded with the longitudinal grooves which converge in front : 

 the mesial triangular area behind is larger and prolonged more 

 forwards, and, instead of the very minute foveola, there is here a 

 distinct oblong depression, which indents the back edge of the 

 head. The mesial stria on each elytron is more extended in the 

 longitudinal direction, and both the striae — this and the sutural 



