£3 



ish Geodephaga by having a bright red streak down each of its pitchy-brown 

 elytra, running parallel with the suture. This is also a rare species, an inde- 

 fatigable collector like Mr. Dawson having only taken a single specimen (in 

 the Isle of Wight.) 



ODACANTHA. 



The single species, 0. Melanura, is easily known by its long narrow thorax 

 which is bluish in colour, and its elytra which are yellow-red with the apex 

 blue black. It measures about a \ inch in length, and occurs commonly in 

 the fen districts. 



^TOPHOEUS. 



imperialis is sufficiently characterized by the diamond-shaped black 

 spot on the suture, which is often connected with the spot at the side 

 margin by a streak of the same colour. It only occurs very sparingly in the 

 fen counties. 



DEMETRIAS. 



Of this genus we have two British species, both fairly common and gen- 

 erally distributed. Atricapillus has the elytra pale with the suture some- 

 times a 1 ittle dusky ; monostigma has the suture, and a spot before the 

 apex of each elytron black. 



DROMIUS. 



This is a somewhat difficult genus for a beginner, especially if he obtain 

 some of the smaller species, and as several of these are desiderata with myself, 

 I have to do my best to describe them from other descriptions. The genus 

 may be artifically divided into seven groups of species, according to the 

 colour and markings of the elytra. 

 Gr. 1. — Elytra entirely yellow : 



Head black, thorax red ; length J an inch. - - D. melanocephalus, 

 Gr. 2. — Elytra yellowish, the suture dark, this colour widening behind to the 

 apex. Head and thorax very long, - - - - I), longiceps, 

 Gr. 8. — Elytra brownish-yellow, darker at the apex ; head and thorax not 



long. - - D. linearis, 



Gr. 4. — Elytra brown, without light spots, and not darker at the apex. The 

 two species of this group agilis and meridionalis (the latter of which 

 Mr. Dawson believed to be a variety of the former) are slightly diffi- 

 cult to separate. In agilis the elytra are wider behind and have impres- 

 sions on the third and sixth interstices of the striae ; while meridionalis 

 is parallel-sided, and has impressions in the sixth interstice only. 

 Gr. 5. — Elytra dark brown, with a light spot at the base (not reaching the 

 side margin), and another light spot near the apex. 



