Insects. 



8531 



men for examination, informing me that he took two examples at Preston, which he 

 sent to Mr. Dawson for his opinion, not being able to name them satisfactorily from 

 the ' Geodephaga Britannica,' and of which one was returned by the latter as the 

 Amara brunnea of his work. Mr. Graham also told me that it had been so named by 

 another authority. This insect also is certainly A. rufocincta of Sahlberg, which 

 occurs sparingly all over the kingdom^ having been taken at Scarborough, Dublin, 

 Preston and Deal, aud in the Reigate district. As there could be no doubt about 

 these specimens I was induced to examine the characters of A. brunnea as given by 

 Dawson (Joe. cit), and find that although the Latin diagnosis evidently refers to that 

 species, being nearly verbatim the same as that in Erichson's ' Kaf. Brand.' 95,29, yet 

 his English description applies equally to A. rufocincta and A. brunnea, except in 

 referring to the thorax, which he mentions as having the sides " nearly straight, or very 

 slightly sloped inwards towards the base;" this can only apply to the former, the 

 thorax in A. brunnea having the sides most decidedly rounded behind. Judging, 

 therefore, from the specimens I have examined, and from the differences in the 

 description above referred to, I can come to no other conclusion than that Dawson 

 adopted the Latin diagnosis from Erichson, and that his English description is that of 

 A. rufocincta. The species A. brunnea of Gyllenhal must, therefore, be expunged 

 from our lists, and A. brunnea of Dawson (Geod. Brit., el exempt.) added as a synonym 

 to A. rufocincta of Sahlberg. The true A. brunnea comes nearest to A. rufocincta, 

 but still differs from it conspicuously as follows: — It is altogether a smaller and less 

 robust insect; the joints of the antenna? are more slender, the legs shorter and more 

 slender, and the tarsi especially shorter; the thorax is not so ample, having the 

 anterior angles rather more acute, the posterior angles contracted behind and decidedly 

 rotundate, the basal foveas not so deeply punctured, and the reddish edging more 

 evident, especially on the hinder margin ; the scutellum is rather deeper and not 

 quite so broad; the elytra are more parallel, and not so acuminate behind. I have 

 not only examined the insects above referred to with the original descriptions, but 

 have compared them with an undoubted specimeu of A. brunnea sent by Dr. Schaum 

 to Mr. Waterhouse.— E. C. Rye. 



Characters of a Geodephagous Insect new to Britain. — 



Bembidium Mannerheimii, Sahib. Ins. Fenn. i. 201, 26 ; (Schaum, Er. Ins. 

 Deutschl. iv. 740, 66). B. unicolor, Chaudoir, Bull. d. Mosc. 1 850, iii. 1 76, 10. 

 B. guttula, var. Dawson, Geod. Brit. 181? (nec Philocthus haemorrhous, 

 (Kirby), Steph. III. Man. or Coll. 



Above are the references of a species to be added to our list of Geodephaga. It is 

 one of the sub-genus Philocthus, and closely allied to B. guttula, Gyll., having the 

 posterior angles of the thorax subemarginate, but differs from that insect in having the 

 elytra shorter, more convex, more decidedly oval (they are oblong-ovate in B. guttula), 

 and without any red subapical spots, the extreme apex only being sometimes of a faint 

 reddish tone ; the thorax is broader, with the sides more rotundate, and the basal foveas 

 not extending quite so far upwards; altogether it is a shorter, broader, more convex 

 insect, bearing a slight superficial resemblance to dark examples of Trechus secalis. In 

 colour also it differs from B. guttula, being deep black, with a faint purplish tinge, 

 and never exhibiting any aeneous teudency. Taken at Hammersmith Marshes and 

 Hampstead by Mr. Waterhouse and his sons, Mr. H. Montague, and myself: I have 

 no doubt, however, that it will be found mixed up generally in collections with 



A 



