114 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[June 



isolated instances where a difference in colour is observable in the 

 sexes this difference is most often confined to a portion only of the 

 upper or under surface of the insect. Perhaps the nearest approach 

 to complete unlikeness in colour is presented by Osphya hipiinctata, in 

 which the male is black, with the edge of the thorax, the base of the 

 antenna, and the legs (mostly) reddish, while the female is yellow- 

 brown, with the top of the head, two spots on the thorax, and the tip 

 of the elytra black. In Hoplia philanthiis the upper surface of the male 

 is dark and covered with ashy scales, and the legs and antennae are 

 black, while the upper surface of the female is reddish, with greenish 

 scales, and red legs and antennse. In some of the Harpali, already 

 alluded to, the male has the upper surface shining blue, green, or blue- 

 black, while the female is dull black, without any metallic reflection. 

 The male Donacia affinis is black with a violet reflection, while the 

 female is bronze or brassy. In one of the water-beetles, Rhantus 

 notatus, the under surface of the male is mostly black, while that of the 

 female is pale yellow slightly spotted with black. The male Scymiiiis 

 discoideus has the head and thorax reddish-yellow, with a black spot at 

 the base of the latter ; that of S. fvontalis has a yellow head and a spot 

 of the same colour in each anterior angle of the thorax ; the females 

 of both the species are entirely black. The genus Cryptucjphalns 

 contains a few species which present sexual differences in the colour 

 of the head : C. hilineatiis has the head, in the male, yellow, with a 

 l)lack line down the centre, v/hile that of the female has the head 

 black, with two yellovr spots betvv^een the eyes ; in the male of C. 

 morcei the front of the thorax and a x shaped mark on the forehead 

 are yellow, the remainder of these portions being black, while in the 

 female the thorax is entirely black, and the head is black with two 

 yellow lines between the eyes. The male of the comnion tiger-beetle 

 (Cicindela campestrisj has the mandibles creamy white, only the 

 extreme tip being black, while in all the females, including a large 

 number of specimens from the Pyrenees as well as British, that I have 

 been able to examine, the basal third, and sometimes less than this, 

 is wliite, the remainder being black. The antennae and legs of the 

 male Strangalia aundenia are mostly black, while these portions in the 

 female are usually red-yellow. The male of Apion diffonne has the 

 antennse entirely yellow-browm ; the female has the antennae entirely 

 black. A. cracccs and annulipes have the antennae entirely yellow-red 

 in the male, the base only is of this colour in the other sex ; while in 

 A. dissimile and suhulatum, where the basal joint of the antennae is red 

 or yellow" in the male, these organs are entirely black in the female. 

 Two species of the same genus, A. nifirostre and nigritarse, and 

 Balaninus pyvrhoceras have the apical half of the male rostrum bright 

 red, while in the females of these species the rostrum is entirely black. 



