NOTES ON NEW AND RARE LOCAL BEETLES. 407 



three — russica, L., cenea, Schall., and lacordairei, Crotch — 

 belong to Triplax se7isu stricto. The characters given by 

 Ganglbauer for these divisions are as follows : — 



Triplax : — Base of thorax strongly bordered, or furnished with a 

 strongly marked transverse furrow in front of the scutellum ; in shape 

 more or less parallel- sided, elongate-ovate. 



Flatichiia : — Base of thorax throughout very finely bordered, and never 

 provided with a transverse furrow ; shape, more or less ovate. 



I am indebted to Prof. Beare for the following rough 

 translation of Ganglbauer's description of bicolor: — 



" Triplax bicolor, Gyll. — Usually about the same size as russica*, but 

 distinguished from that species by its more ovate form, by the yellowish- 

 red colour of the base of the antennse and of the scutellum, and by the 

 fact that the whole of the underside of the body is reddish in colour. It 

 may also be readily separated from ricssica by the generic characters 

 already given." 



General description : — Oblong, moderately ovate, yellowish-red, elytra 

 shining black ; antennae black or brown, with the first two joints, and 

 occasionally the third, rusty-red in colour. The head is large, with the 

 clypeus thickly punctured. The third joint of the antennae is about half as 

 long again as the second and fourth, the fourth and fifth joints are elongate, 

 the sixth is about as long as broad, and the seventh is slightly, and the 

 eighth distinctly, transverse. The thorax is somewhat strongly contracted 

 in front, and at the base is about twice as broad as long ; the sides are 

 finely, and the base very finely, bordered. The elytra are oblong, slightly 

 widened in the basal third ; moderately coarsely punctate-striate, with the 

 interstices somewhat strongly punctured. Length, 4*5 to 5"o mm. 



Occurs rarely throughout Central and Northern Europe. 



The synonymy of this species has been terribly confused, 

 apparently owing to the fact that authorities have copied 

 statements from one another without taking the trouble to 

 confirm their accuracy. Prof. Beare kindly undertook to un- 

 ravel the tangle, and he has supplied me with the following 

 notes on the synonymy. 



Marsham, in his " Entomologia Britannica " (1802), vol. i, 

 p. 122, described a new species under the name T. bicolor. 

 Apart from the fact that, as usual, the description is so meagre 

 that it will fit several of the species, we have authentic proof 



* The examples taken at Gitside were on the average smaller than T. russica, 

 ■being intermediate in size between that fpecies and T, cenea. 



