COLEOPTERA. 265 



larvffi appear to thrive on the withered loaves as well as the fresh ones 

 of convolvulus. They have a i?i-eat protective resemblance to the 

 curved withered stems of their food-plant, and there is much difticulty 

 in finding them amongst the dried debris, but, as noticed by my friend 

 INIr. Onslow, who kindly sent me the larva from Wimbledon, on 

 breathing over the mass, it at once wakes into life, and motion takes 

 the place of apparent death. The pupal stage is a very short one, and 

 early in July I had some of the l)rood in all three stages on the same 

 day. 



The 2 scatters her ova, and in the present instance laid between 

 80 and 40. The ova are somewhat irregularly oval (irregularity due 

 to pressure, on or during deposition). Length •2iSmm. to -'iOTmm. 

 Breadth •19Hmm. to -iiyinnn. The surface is reticulated in regular 

 hexagons. Colour very pale reddish-brown, becoming darker in the 

 centre and round the edge, and in a few days almost black, when the 

 ova hatch. Aljout half of mine hatched within a week, but the rest 

 have not developed further than the second stage, and are probably 

 addled. 



(COLEOPTERA. 



Cercyon bifenestratus, Kust. ( = palustris, Thorns.). — An addition 

 to the British list. 



By E. A. NEWBEKY. 



This insect, although placed in another sub-genus by Kuwert 

 {Fauna Jkdtica, 1890, p. 112), is so closely allied to utarinus, Thorns., 

 that it has hitherto escaped observation in Britain. ]3edel [/'"/. H. th- 

 la Seine, i., p. 338 (1881)] separates it from tnarinus, thus : 



Mesosternuni narrow. Body more oval. Apical spot of the elytra more reduced 

 inwardly, but mounting laterally up to near the shoulders — 



)/(f()i/(»s, Thorns, {aqiiaticiti of Brit, colls.). 



Mesosternuni oval. Body more thickset. Apical spot larger inwardly, but 

 only mounting externally up to the level of the metasternum — 



hifou'AtnttKs, Kust. (judustris, Thoms.). 



Thomson [Sea/nL (Hi., ii., p. 105), in describing ('. marinm, says 

 " macula apicali epipleurisque livido-testaceis. . . . ]\lesosterno 

 lanceolato-lineari." He contrasts palnstris with it as follows : " Pre- 

 cedente proximns, statura breviore, elytrorum macula apicali altius 

 adscendente, mesosterno latiore, ovali, palpis pedibusque obscuribus." 

 Kuster's description is by no means so characteristic, though much 

 longer (r/V/r Kust., A>(/'. A';/;-., 23, 15 [1851]). 



('. iiuiriniis, Thoms. (Inc. rit.), aqKaticiis v. /:*. j\1u1s. jut Steph., is 

 found widely distributed in Britain, and is common in the Loudon 

 district, on the nmddy banks of streams. The name aqiiatinis, Steph., 

 cannot be retained, since his descriptions in the llliistratidus and 

 Manual evidently refer to anali.s, Pk. Two out of the four examples 

 in his collection are analis, and the other two are bad specimens, difft- 

 cult to determine, but certainly neither niarinits, Thoms., nor hit'enes- 

 tratiis, Kust. Mulsant's description of aijiiatieiis probably includes both 

 the above species, at all events, Jiedel and Kuwert are of tliis opinion. 



C. bifenestratus, Knst. {loc. vit.), jtalnstris. Thorns., a(iiiatiens (I'ars.), 

 Muls., appears to be a scarce insect, though it is not improbably 

 mixed with the allied species in British collections, 1 have only seen 



