STAPHYI.INID.E. RAFHIRUS. 241 



Sp. 48. minax. Afer, capite thoraceque nitidis hie lateribus mnltipundatis, man- 



dibulis capite longioribus. (Long. corp. 4^ lin.) 

 St. minax. Kirby MSS.—Vh. minax. Steph. Catal. 282. No. 3002. 



Black, with an obscure pubescence : head quadrate-orbiculate, large^ wider 

 than the thorax, with scattered punctures on the sides, and a few between 

 the eyes : thorax very glossy, with scattered punctures on the sides, and a 

 double series of larger impressions on the disc : elytra slightly pilose : 

 abdomen with the two last ventral segments at the apex rufous, the last 

 notched at the apex : legs pitchy-black : tibiae and tarsi pale : antennae with 

 the three basal joints naked and shining, the remainder with a cinerescent 

 down : mandibles longer than the head, fuscous. 



Also rare : it has been taken " near Hull, in Yorkshire." — 

 Kirhy MSS. 



Genus DXI. — Raphirus, Leach MSS. 



Antennce slender, filiform, the basal joint elongate, second and third also elon- 

 gate, about equal in length, the remainder very short, the terminal one 

 longest, and abruptly acuminate. Palpi moderate, maxillary with the ter- 

 minal joint elongate, acuminate: head moderate: eyes ovate, very large, 

 occupying nearly the entire sides of the head : thorax convex, the anterior 

 angles somewhat compressed ; the disc remotely punctate ; a double series 

 of three impressions on the back: elytra short: ZioJ?; attenuated at each 

 end: abdomen acute: legs short : _/f'?no/a compressed; tibia; spinose ; tarsi 

 pentamerous, both sexes with the anterior ones moderately dilated, the 

 terminal joint elongate. 



Raphirus diifers from Philonthus not only by having the eyes 

 very large and ovate, occupying nearly the entire lateral margins of 

 the head, but the body is distinctly attenuated at each end, and the 

 abdomen remarkably conic; the terminal joint of the palpi is dis- 

 tinctly acuminated, the antennas very slender, &c. The species are 

 mostly found beneath mosses, stones, &c. in damp and marshy 

 situations. 



Sp. 1. semiobscurus. Ater, capite thoraceque nitidis, elytris obsciiris piceis, 



antennis pedibusque rufo-ferrugineis. (Long. corp. 3 — 3|- lin.) 

 St. semiobscurus. Marsham. — Ra. semiobscurus. Steph. Catal. 2?i2. No. WO^. 



B.aiher broad, deep pitchy blach:: head somewhat rhomboidal, narrower than 

 the thorax, very glossy, smooth, with two or three deeply impressed punc- 

 tures behind the eyes, a)id one on each side near them : thorax also glossy, 

 widest behind, smooth, with a row of three slightly impressed punctures on 

 each side of the disc, and others on the margins: elytra dull pitchy, slightly 



Mandibulata. Vol. V. 30tii Nov. 1833. r 



