he had examined a large number of specimens having this habitat, but he did not find 

 that amount of variation in colour which had been attributed to the species ; on the 

 contrary, a large number of specimens collected by himself and Dr. Power, from fir 

 trees, presented no marked varieties : ihey could all be comprised in the following 

 description : — 



Oval (slightly oblong), black ; elytra thickly and rather finely punctured, the punc- 

 tures of unequal size ; fulvous-red, with the suture narrowly edged with dusky, 

 and sometimes likewise the base of the elytra, as well as the outer margin on 

 the basal half; antennae, palpi and legs more or less dusky (never entirely 

 pale) ; thorax with the sides very generally rufescent, especially towards and 

 at the anterior angles. Body beneath rather strongly but by no means thickly 

 punctured ; the chest with a distinct longitudinal grove. 

 The dark edging to the suture and other parts of the elytra is very commonly ill- 

 defined, and by no means distinct. S. atriceps of Stephens is founded upon an imma- 

 ture specimen of this species. The other two insects were found in marshy situations 

 in localities far remote from fir trees. The first of these Mr. Waterhouse distin- 

 guished from S. discoideus by its somewhat smaller size; less ample, and posteriorly 

 somewhat acuminated elytra ; the more dense and fine puncturing of the under parts; 

 the constantly uniform testaceous colour of the legs, the shorter and more inflated form 

 of the femora ; the excessively indistinct or obsolete pectoral grove ; and, lastly, by 

 the colouring. Here the black on the elytra usually covers as much surface as the 

 red ; in most instances it completely margins each elytron, is broad at the base of the 

 elytra, and on the suture it forms a band which is very broad anteriorly, and gradually 

 contracted in width towards the apex of the elytra, but very commonly it is more or 

 less expanded for a short distance near the middle of the suture. To this insect Mr. 

 Waterhouse applied the name S. Mulsanti : it is the S. limbatus of Stephens's col- 

 lection, but not of his description. Mr. Waterhouse stated that he had examined 

 upwards of thirty specimens found at Southend, Deal, Holmbush, &c. 



The third species is considerably smaller than S. discoideus, is black, with deep 

 red elytra, and these are narrowly margined externally, and rather broadly margined 

 at the apex, with black ; along the suture is a broad (at times very broad) black 

 band, which is pretty nearly of uniform width : it is, however, more particularly dis- 

 tinguished by its short convex form (the elytra being very obtusely rounded behind), 

 and the punctuation of the elytra being stronger and more distinct, the punctures not 

 varying in size, being less dense, and the interstices being even, not rugulose. Eleven 

 specimens (mostly from the Hammersmith Marshes and Hornsey Fen) furnish the 

 above characters : in all, the legs are black, and the antennae and palpi dusky. This 

 is the Scymnus limbatus of Kirby's MSS. and collection, and of Stephens's ' Illus- 

 trations.' 



Mr. Waterhouse communicated detailed descriptions of these three species to the 

 Meeting. 



Mr. Waterhouse also exhibited three species of Bryaxis ; two at least were hitherto 

 unrecorded as British ; one of the three is probably the B. assimilis of Curtis. 



Bryaxis Helferi, Schmidt, &c., Pselaph. Faun. Pragen, p. 33. 



■ , Aube, Revision de la Famille des Pselaphiens, in the Annales de 



la Soc. Ent. de France, 3me ser. ii. p. 109. 



pulchella, Schaum, in Germar's Zeitschrift fiir die Entomologie, iv. 192. 



In size and colouring this species nearly resembles Bryaxis irapressa of Denny, 



