146 [June, 



elongate-ovate, whitish and brownish scales, which are arranged thickly 

 on the thorax, and in double rows on the interstices of the elytra ; 

 they are very pretty objects under the microscope, and in some lights 

 are plainly iridescent ; owing to their size and the loose way in which 

 they are set on the surface, they are exceedingly easily abraded, and 

 very soon get rubbed off ; specimens from which they have been 

 entirely removed are quite black, and more or less shiny, and present 

 a very different appearance to fresh or half abraded specimens. The 

 species attack various parasitic plants, especially the dodder {Cuscufa 

 europtea) ; they deposit their eggs in the stem, and the larva lives in a 

 sort of gall, from which it emei-ges and buries itself in the earth before 

 undergoing its transformations. 



I. Tarsal claws uneven, the internal claw being very short ; thorax finely punctured ; 



elytra oval and shining, usually denuded of scales S. coeciis, Eeich. 



II. Tarsal claws equal ; upper surface usually more or less squaniose. 



i. Thorax with shallow and rather close punctures, duller, interspaces finely 

 but plainly cross-reticulate ; body behind thorax broader .. 



,S. Eelchei, Gyll. 

 ii. Thorax with very shallow and comparatively diffuse punctures, less dull, 

 interspaces more finely and often scarcely evidently cross-reticulate ; 



body behind thorax narrower S. junqermannicB, Eeich. 



{cicur,Gj\\.). 



S. coeciis, Boh. {cuscutcB, Ch. Bris.). — Oblong-ovate, black, shiny, with scanty 

 narrow scales, which are easily rubbed off ; thorax globose, narrowed in front, finely 

 punctured ; elytra a little broader at base than thorax, with the shoulders well 

 marked, oval and shining, with fine but distinct striae and finely sculptured inter- 

 stices ; legs rather stout, claws unequal, the iiuier one being very short ; size 

 variable. Length, li — 2 mm. 



On Cuscuta europcea (the Greater Dodder) : two specimens, but 

 without locality, one in the possesion of Mr. Champion from Mr. 

 Scott's collection, and one in my collection. Bedel gives as localities, 

 Northern and Central Europe. The Greater Dodder, according to 

 Bentham, is parasitic on a variety of plants, more especially on her- 

 baceous stems, in Europe and temperate parts of Asia ; it is not very 

 abundant in England, and has not been recorded with certainty either 

 from Ireland or Scotland. 



S. Reichei,(jtj\\. {prigmceus, Cwrt., j) a rs). — Oblong-ovate, black, rather shiny, 

 closely covered, in fresh specimens, with whitish and brownish-white or brownish 

 scales, which are arranged thickly on the thorax, and more or less in patches on the 

 interstices of the elytra ; under-side more thickly scaled ; rostrum long ; antennae 

 rather stout, pitchy at base ; thorax convex, about as long as broad, scarcely con- 

 stricted in (Vent, with the sides somewhat variably rounded in diffei'ent specinaens, 

 shallowly and rather closely punctured, with the spaces between the punctures 



