Insects. 



8477 



the apex) the entire terminal segment, the greater part of the penultimate and the 

 hinder margins of the remaining segments ferruginous. The antennae are as long as 

 the head and thorax, not so long or incrassate as in O. opaca, and with the terminal 

 joint shorter and more blunted ; the thorax is convex, rather shorter than its breadth, 

 deflexed at the sides, especially in front, where it is slightly narrowed, and with all its 

 angles obtuse. It appears to be the most finely and closely punctured species of the 

 genus, and may be known from 0. longiuscula by its more convex form and much 

 shorter antenna?, in which the terminal joint is also much smaller. I took an entirely 

 jet-black variety of O. longiuscula at Boston lately. It seems a very variable species, 

 'and when alive resembles a Calodera more than an Oxypoda. — E. C. Rye ; 284, King's 

 Road, Chelsea. 



Notes on Philonthus temporalis and allied Species. — When noticing Philonthus 

 punctiventris of Kraatz, in the ' Entomologist's Annual' for the present year, I made 

 some remarks as to the probability of P. temporalis being also a species found in 

 England ; and having recently been enabled to compare Mr. Waterhouse's supposed 

 specimens of the latter (and also another example detected by me among Brachelytra 

 belonging to Mr. T. J. Bold, of Newcastle) wilh the original description given by 

 Mulsant of the insect in question, I can now confirm my former opinion. Philonthus 

 temporalis of Mulsant (Opusc. Ent. 2me Cah. 1853, p. 73) must therefore be added 

 to our lists. It is about the size of P. punctiventris, but not so parallel in shape, the 

 elytra being more ample, decidedly aeneous in colour, and with rather less distinct 

 punctuations, which are slightly rugulose transversely ; the abdomen is rather more 

 closely punctured, and has the lower surface less thickly punctured thau the upper; 

 the antennae are entirely black and somewhat broader, having the penultimate joints 

 more transverse, but not so wide as in P. aeneus or P. carbonarius. The head and 

 thorax are set with long stiff black hairs, and the former has numerous coarse punc- 

 tures behind the eyes, the basal joints of the anterior tarsi in the male being very 

 slightly dilated ; in all which characters it resembles P. punctiventris. The sixth 

 segment of the abdomen, in the male, beneath has a shallow 

 rounded notch in the centre of its hinder margin (fig. 1) ; whilst 

 the male of P. punctiventris exhibits in the same place a much 

 deeper and wider emargination (fig. 2) ; in both of these species 

 the edge of the fifth segment is entire and straight, whereas] in 

 the males of P. aeneus the fifth segment beneath is somewhat 

 emarginate for its entire breadth, and the notch in the sixth seg- 

 ment is more decidedly acute than in P. punctiventris (fig. 3) : 

 the females of all these insects appear to present no distinguish- 

 ing characters in this region, having the apex of the sixth seg- 

 ment beneath obtusely rounded. Mulsant does not notice the 

 above character of the male of P. temporalis, and only refers to 

 the female ; I am, however, tolerably confident on the point, 

 having found precisely the same emargination in two of the spe- 

 cimens examined by me, and which are both palpably males, the 

 third example being a female. P. aeneus and P. carbonarius may 

 be at once known from their allies by the decidedly transverse 

 penultimate joints of their antennae, the former also being easily 

 separated by the very fine and close punctuation of the upper surface of the abdomen 

 in both sexes, and by the broad basal joints of the front tarsi in the male: P. 



