Scymnus discoideus and two allied Species. 133 



late, and the small, nearly semicircular plate situated immediately 

 beneath the base of the posterior thigh, which Mulsant calls the 

 *' plaque abdominale," extends, in the fore-and-aft direction, over 

 rather more than two-thirds of the diameter of the abdominal 

 segment. The punctuation of the elytra is dense and rather fine, 

 and composed of punctures of different sizes, and the interstices 

 are somewhat rugulose. 



Scymnus atriceps of Stephens is founded upon an immature 

 specimen of this species. 



Scymnus Midsantl, n. sp, 



Sc. ovatus, postice sub-acuminatus, niger, pilosus ; elytris 

 crebre punctatis, obscure rufis, late nigro-marginatis ; cor- 

 pore subtus crebre subtilius punctato ; antennis, palpis, 

 pedibusque testaceis. 



Of this insect I possess nine specimens, collected from the 

 roots of herbage, just above high water mark, about a mile 

 beyond Southend ; and I have a single specimen which I took 

 at Holm-bush, in Sussex. In Dr. Power's collection are eleven 

 specimens from the latter locality, two from Deal, and two from 

 a marshy pit near Lee, in Kent. Its favourite resorts, then, 

 would appear to be marshy places, either near the sea or inland ; 

 and it is found in localities far remote from fir-trees. The 

 average size of the insect is rather less than that of the Sc. dis- 

 coideus ; it is rather more convex, and differs in having the elytra 

 somewhat acuminate in the posterior half; in having the chest *■ 

 and abdomen very thickly (especially towards and at the sides) 

 and more finely punctured; in having the abdominal plates more 

 extended in the fore-and-aft direction, and consequently leaving 

 a narrower space behind between the plate and the edge of the 

 segment ; in having the pectoral groove excessively indistinct or 

 entirely wanting; and in having the antennse, palpi and legs 

 entirely testaceous, and the thighs shorter and more inflated. 

 The red colour of the elytra, moreover, is usually darker, and 

 the elytra are broadly margined with black throughout. Taking a 

 common condition of the colouring, the black and the red are 

 nearly in equal proportions : the black occupies a broad space at 

 the base of the elytra, extends down the suture for a short dis- 

 tance in the form of an equally broad band ; here (that is, about 

 midway between the base and the apex of the elytra) it is very 

 often rather suddenly expanded in width, and there is a corrc- 



