Scymnus discoideus and two allied Species. 135 



marshes : in Dr. Power's collection I find six specimens, three of 

 which are from the same locality, and the other three are from 

 Hornsey Fen. In neither place are there any fir-trees. 



Bryax'is simplex, n. sp. 



Rufo-picea ; elytris sanguineis, marginibus infuscatis ; antennis 

 pedibusque fusco-testaceis ; capite tri-foveolato ; thorace fo- 

 veolis tribus sub-sequalibus. 



This insect belongs to the same section as the B.fossulata : the 

 fovese on the thorax are nearly equal, and not united by a trans- 

 verse groove ; the abdomen presents no sexual distinctions, and the 

 anterior coxae are unarmed in the male — they are not even slightly 

 produced, and angular as in B. fossulata ; and the male is only 

 distinguished by the presence of a very small spine at the apex of 

 the intermediate tibiae. In size it is equal to the B. sangumea, 

 and its antennae are as long as in the female of that insect, and can 

 scarcely be said to differ in structure. The general colour is 

 piceous, not darker than in B.Jossiilata, but of a more rufous tint ; 

 the antennae and legs are fusco-testaceous ; the tibiae and tarsi 

 rather paler than the thighs ; the elytra are red, but less intense 

 and less brilliant than in B. san guinea ; and at the margins, 

 throughout, they are more or less piceous. The head has a small 

 foveola on the vertex, besides the three ordinary foveae ; of these, 

 the two frontal foves are rather more approximated than in B. 

 fossulata, and the hinder part of the head is more produced. The 

 terminal joints of the palpi are fuscous or piceous ; the basal joints 

 paler. The thorax agrees very nearly in form with that o^ B.fos- 

 sulata, but the posterior angles are less obtuse ; the lateral foveae 

 are rather larger and less forward in position, and there is a shal- 

 low depression on each side, connected with these foveae, which 

 runs along the posterior margin of the thorax and extends almost 

 to the central fovea ; the space between this latter and the lateral 

 fovea is much raised, and almost assumes the form of a large, 

 bluntly-rounded tubercle ; the surface of the thorax is very finely 

 and sparingly punctured. The elytra are relatively longer than in 

 B.fossulata, and, like the abdomen, more finely and more spar- 

 ingly punctured, and the pubescence is more scant. The striolae 

 at the base of the first abdominal segment, above, are more 

 widely separated, the space between them slightly exceeding one- 

 iliird of the entire widtli of the convex part of the abdomen ; 

 whilst in B.fossulata the corresponding space is rather less than 



