Posterior light spot involving almost the whole of the apex ; size £^ lines. 



D. quadrimaculatus* 

 Posterior light spot spot small and round; size \\ to % lines - - 



D. quadrinotatus. 



Gr. 6. — Elytra yellowish with dark markings, the scntellum and shoulders 

 dark - - - - - - D, quadrisignatus 



Gr. 7. — Elytra yellowish, with dark markings, but the shoulders are yellow... 



D. nigriventris D, vectensis, D. sigma. 

 These species, which, I have no doubt are easily distinguishable when com- 

 pared together, are difficult to separate on paper ; nigriventris (which is often 

 almost without markings) has the front half of the elytra pale, with a black 

 suture, the hinder half being more or less dark with a small light spot be- 

 hind, near the apex ; vectensis and sigma have the elytra pale, with a dark 

 toothed band across the middle, the end of this band ceasing at the side 

 margin in sigma whilst in vectensis the band is produced at the sides as far 

 as the apex. All three species are about J inch in length. 



The species of the genus Dromius are found generally beneath bark, on her- 

 bage, or at the roots of grass. They vary considerably in their distribution : 

 D. longiceps and sigma are principally fen insects ; D. vectensis, an insect 

 comparatively new to science, has occured only in the Isle of Wight ; D. 

 nigriventris is found, according to Dawson, in damp places (I take it sparingly 

 under heather in hilly places) ; D. quadrisignatus is not very frequently 

 taken ; whilst D. linearis, agilis, meridionalis, quadrimaculatus, quadrino- 

 tatus, and melanocephalus are common and generally distributed. 



BLECHRUS. 



The only species of this genus, B. maurus, is easily distinguished from 

 species of the two following genera by its small size (1\ lines), by its entirely 

 black colour, the elytra being nearly smooth, or with very faint traces of striae 

 near the suture. This beetle seems fairly common, but if found on clayey 

 ground which is full of cracks, and with the sun shining upon it, as I first 

 made its acquaintance, the collector will well deserve all he bottles. The 

 late Mr. Rye, in his excellent " British Beetles," likens this species to an 

 " animated grain of gunpowder." 



LIONYCHUS. 



The single British species, L. quadrillum, has the head and thorax black, 

 the latter having a very smaD, but acute tooth near each posterior angle ; 

 elytra nearly square, black, with a round light spot at each shoulder, and 

 another (often indistinct or wanting), near the apex of each elytron ; the 

 interstices between the striae have a row of distinct punctures. This species 

 appears to be common where it does occur, but very local. 



