105 , 



from the tree lower down, though the hole increased in size, it also became more ob- 

 structed until near the root, where (although there is still an indication of the perfor- 

 ation) the hole proceeds no further, after passing through nearly five feet of solid wood. 

 One piece of the tree shows where the hole commences, at the side where a branch has 

 been cut off; the other was four feet lower down, where the hole becomes obstructed 

 and looks more like decay than the boring of a grub. Is this a question for entomo- 

 logists or for arboriculturists?" 



To this query no satisfactory answer was given ; but it was suggested that the 

 perforation, if caused by a larva at all, was probably made by that of Zeuzera ^sculr. 



Mr. Waterhouse exhibited the following four British species of Coleoptera, w? , 

 Oxytelus piceus, Erichson, ^c, Quedius umbrinus, Erickson, Haplocnemus nigri- 

 cornis. Fab., and Lathridius rugosus, Herbsi, and communicated the following notes 

 relating to them : — 



"With regard to the Oxytelus I have to state that the species was introduced into 

 njy Catalogue from the determination *of a single male specimen taken by myself, but 

 of which I did not know the exact locality. Recently, however, I have discovered a 

 second specimen (a female) amongst some Staphylinidis which were procured by me 

 from cow-dung in the well-known field immediately opposite the inn at Birchwood 

 Corner, on the 1st of July, 1869. O. piceus most closely resembles O. laqueatus, but 

 may be distinguished by the comparatively large size of the eye, by there being only a 

 single groove on the back part of the head above (instead of three grooves, as in 0. 

 laqueatus), and by the head being less concave in front. In the male of O. laqueatus 

 the longitudinal diameter of the head behind the eye is greater than that of the eye, 

 whereas in O. piceus the eye presents the greater diameter. In the female of the last- 

 mentioned insect, from the large size of the eye, and the great prominence of that 

 organ, the head nearly resembles that of O. sculptus, but that insect is readily distin- 

 guished from O. piceus by its comparatively long antennae and by certain peculiarities 

 of structure. In O. piceus the fifth is the first of the dilated pubescent joints, and presents 

 a peculiar modification of the peduncle: at first small and slender, to join the pre- 

 ceding joint it is suddenly dilated above the base into a shallow cup-like process, to 

 which a nearly hemispherical apical part of the joint is attached; this latter part is 

 rough and pubescent, whilst the peduncular part is smooth. In the following joints 

 the peduncle is dilated above the base into a circular flat (or nearly flat) plate, attached 

 to which is the body of ihe joint. In O. sculptus the peduncle of the fourth joint is 

 dilated into a round, slightly concave (and in the following joints flat) plate; and the 

 dilated pubescent joints may here be said to commence from the fourtli instead of the 

 fifth joint. This structure corresponds very closely with that which will be found in 

 O. rugosus and O. iuseclatus, whilst all the remaining British species of Oxytelus cor- 

 respond very closely in the structure of their antennas with O. piceus. 



" Of Quedius umbrinus I have long possessed a British specimen, but had never 

 determined it until recently, when a second specimen was sent me to be named by Mr. 

 Morris Young of Paisley. It must nearly resembles the dark (piichy black) varieties 

 of Quedius mauro-rufus, but may be distinguished by its less thickly and more strongly 

 punctured elytra. The antennae are rather stouter and the jointslonger, and the head 

 is somewhat broader than in Q. mauro-rufus. 



" Haplocnemus nigricornis. Dr. Power long since called my attention to the fact 

 that we possessed two species of Haplocnemus in England, and I subsequently obtained 



O 



