SPHjERIDIID^E. — CERCYON. 137 



is evidently capable of being subdivided, but I have not succeeded 

 in detecting any satisfactory characters. 



Sp. 1. ruficorne. Nigrum, depressiusculum, elytris apice pallide rufis, mar- 

 ginibus piceis, antennis palpi sque rufo-ferrugineis. (Long. corp. 1^ — l^lin.) 



Sp. ruficorne. Kirby MSS.—Ce. ruficorne. Steph. Catal. p. 62. No. 627. 



Body somewhat depressed, above deep black, finely punctured, beneath rather 

 obscure : palpi and antennae totally of a rusty-red : thorax immaculate, the 

 margins a little dilated, and in some specimens obscurely piceous ; elytra rather 

 faintly punctate-striated ; black, with the lateral margins piceous, the apex 

 pale rufous, or testaceous : legs pitchy-black ; tarsi sometimes rufescent. 



This and the four following species differ from the rest of the genus by having 

 the sides of the thorax more or less dilated, and the body somewhat de- 



Occasionally taken in damp places near London. " On the banks 

 of the Orwell, near Barham." — Rev. W. Kirby. 



Sp. 2. littorale. Nigro-piceum, depressiusculum, elytris apice pallidis, last ad 



scutellam puncto rufo. (Long. corp. 1^—1^ lin.) 

 Sp. littorale. Gyllenhal. — Ce. littorale. Steph. Catal. p. 62. No. 628. 



Body rather depressed, above pitchy-black, most minutely punctured, beneath 

 obscure black : palpi and antennae pitchy-red, the club of the latter dusky : 

 thorax pitchy, with the lateral margins paler, and slightly dilated: elytra 

 finely striated, the striae punctate, with the apex pale, the margins rufescent, 

 and an obscure red spot at the base near the scutellum : legs castaneous. 



Found occasionally near London in damp places. " Beneath 

 Zostera marina in the river Orwell, near Ipswich. 1 ' — Marsham 

 MSS. 



Sp. 3. binotatum. Nigrum depressiusculum, elytris lurido-testaceis, maculis 



duabus exustis ad suturam versus apicem. (Long. corp. 1 1 — 1^ lin.) 

 C. binotatum. Steph. Catal. p. 62. No. 629. 



single specimens, but upon the collation of extensive series of varieties, each 

 specimen retaining its own peculiar, though minute, characteristic difference ; 

 and that I possess many other specimens of such minute insects which I have 

 not ventured to give as distinct species. I may here also reiterate the observa- 

 tion at the foot of page 126 of my first volume, not only so far as regards species, 

 but genera : as amongst numerous other novelties which have recently been 

 communicated to me may be enumerated Masoreus luxatus ! Nothiophili 4- 

 punctatus et fulvipes, an extraordinary Geodephagous genus allied to the 

 Scaritidae? which I propose to call Spharoderus; — another more remarkable 

 one allied to Macronychus, and apparently connecting that genus with Ochthe- 

 bius ; several new Hydropori and Colymbetes, &c. : all of which I shall in due 

 time describe. 



