June, isyo.j 145 



NOTES ON THE GENUS SMICRONYX, SCHONHERR, WITH A 

 DESCRIPTION OF A SPECIES NEW TO BRITAIN. 



BY THE REV. CANON FOWLER, M.A., F.L.S., &c. 



This genus contains about twenty-five species, which are chiefly 

 found in Europe ; others occur in Northern Asia, and probably in 

 North America; representatives have also been described from Ma-, 

 deira and the Canaries, South Africa, Cuba, the Caucasus district, &c. ; 

 they are among the smallest of the Bhyncliophora, and may be very 

 easily passed over, so that, in all probability, the number of species 

 will be found to be much greater than is at present known ; they fall, 

 as observed by M. Bedel (Faune des Coleopteres du bassin de la Seine 

 Ehynchophora, p. ]09),into two divisions, which will probably have to 

 be separated as distinct genera ; in one of these the striae of the 

 elytra are finer, and the elytra themselves are almost bare, and 

 in the other the elytra are plainly striated, and more or less thickly 

 clothed with scales, which are exceedingly easily abraded ; four species 

 have usually been regarded as British, but I do not feel at all sure as 

 to their right determination or their synonymy ; they are extremely 

 rare insects, so that it is hard to obtain the material on which to work 

 the genus : througb the kindness, however, of Mr. S. Stevens, Mr. 

 Champion, and others, I have been enabled to examine some fifty 

 specimens. M. Bedel has also kindly examined several of these for 

 me, and among them he has found two specimens of S. coecus, Reich. 

 {cuscutte, Bris.), whicb must, therefore, be added to the British list. 

 At first, after a careful examination with a compound miscroscope, I 

 came to the conclusion that the specimens standing in our collections 

 as S. cicur and S. pygmceus are identical ; however, after au examina- 

 tion of the specimens named by M. Bedel, I have modified my first 

 impressions, and am of opinion that, according to continental ideas, 

 thie specimens that we have hitherto regarded as S. jungermannioB 

 should be referred to ^. i2e?c^e?, that S. jungermannicd and S. cicur duve 

 synonymous, and that the specimens standing under S. pygmceus in our 

 collections should be referred partly to S. Beichei, and partly to S. 

 jungermannice ; in fact, I am not sure whether Curtis' original speci- 

 men of 8. pygmceus is not identical with S. coecus, in which case the 

 latter name must be sunk. The genus is certainly a very puzzling 

 one, and the characters ill-determined ; the punctuation of the thorax, 

 for instance, is by some authors regarded as a valuable character, but 

 it appears to differ considerably in different specimens of the same 

 species, as I have found by examining them under a strong light with 

 a high power ; when quite fresh, the insects are covered with large, 



M 



