8454 



Entomological Society, 



the crown presenting usually a more or less distinct fovea (perhaps in the male sex 

 only). Thorax subquadrate, very little broader than long, the hinder part distinctly 

 rounded ; the sides (which are furnished with two or three setae) parallel and very 

 indistinctly rounded ; the surface thickly and distinctly punctured; in some specimens 

 (males?) with a large oblong shallow fovea on the disk; in others a faint small fovea 

 behind. Elytra depressed, about one-fourth broader than the thorax, and nearly half 

 as long again (as in H. occulta), very densely crowded with punctures, and hence dull. 

 Abdomen glossy, with the basal segments rather sparingly punctured ; the fifth seg- 

 ment very sparingly, and the sixth almost impunctate ; the apex more or less piceous. 

 Posterior tarsi short. 



" This insect is clearly the Homalota puncticeps of Thomson = Halobrectha puncti- 

 ceps of his ' Skandinaviens Coleoptera,' iii. 49, 1.* It also agrees perfectly with a 

 specimen from the shore of the Baltic, sent by Dr. Kraatz to the British Museum as 

 his H. puncticeps. But it does not agree with the insect named by the same authority 

 in my own collection, nor in that of Mr. Wollastou. The description given by^Hardy 

 of his H. Algae evidently belongs to this species, but he notices a variety (" dilutiora, 

 antennis fusco-ferrugineis, basi, ore, pedibus anoque testaceis ") which apparently is 

 the insect next about to be noticed. The specimen alluded to by the same author as 

 having a slight elevation on the sixth abdominal segment must present an abnormal 

 condition of the part. I have seen no such rising in the specimens which have come 

 under my notice. 



" The Homalota anthracina of Fairmaire is referred by Dr. Kraatz and by its original 

 describer to the present species, but with doubt ; and certainly the description (espe- 

 cially the one published in the ' Faune Francaise ') in many respects agrees with the 

 H. puncticeps, but the form of the thorax (which is said to be ' presque aussi large que 

 les elytres,' and ' tres arrondis sur les cotes ' would appear to be different. H. atri- 

 chia of Erichson has been identified with the present species. The description, as far 

 as the colouring is concerned, might have been taken from a very immature specimen 

 of the insect, but, in other respects, is for the most part so utterly at variance with the 

 actual characters of the species that I cannot but believe that there is an error in the 

 identification — that perhaps the so-called type-specimen has been transposed and 

 wrongly labelled. 



" The second species is well described by Thomson, under the name Halobrectha 

 flavipes, in his ' Skandinaviens Coleoptera,' iii. 50, 2. I shall content myself with 

 pointing out its distinguishing characters as compared with H. puncticeps. Its general 

 colouring is less dark, being pitchy black ; the elytra more inclining to piceous, and 

 the abdomen black. The legs, antennae, palpi and parts of the mouth testaceous ; the 

 terminal joint of the palpi, the apical half of the antennae, and the femora and tibiae, 

 however, more or less tinted with fuscous. The antennae are rather stouter. The 

 head, thorax and elytra are less densely punctured, and hence less dull ; the elytra are 

 but little longer than the thorax, and the posterior tarsi are considerably more elongate. 

 The apex of the abdomen is more or less rufescent. This species I formerly regarded 

 as the H. puncticeps of Kraatz, and it stands under that name in my ' Catalogue.' 



" Unless entomologists consent to adopt the minor subdivisions of the great genus 

 Homalota proposed by Mr. Thomson it will be necessary to substitute some other spe- 



* The original description, published by Thomson in the ' Transactions of the 

 Academy of Sciences at Stockholm ' for 1852, I have never been able to consult. 



