THE YOUNG 



i Nebria. — Either yellow with black mark- 

 ings (dze I incli), or black with a yellow 

 border, or black. 



Leistns- — Either blue or blue-black, or 

 yellow {size a Uitlj more than ^ inch) ; the 

 palpi very long and slender. 



! NOTIOPHILUS. 

 i Legs and antennge entirely red. iV. inifipes 

 || If the legs are partly or wholly black, 

 ; notice whether the rows of punctures at the 

 sides of the elytra — 



1. Disappear before they reach the apex. 



N. aqMaticus and N. palustris. 



2. Are continued quite to the apex 



N biguttatus, iV. ^-pimctatus, N. substri- 

 atus. 



Aquaticus is distinguished from palustris 

 by being longer ; the legs are entirely black ; 

 the sides of the thorax are not so rounded 

 iin front nor so narrowed behind as in palus- 

 tris, which is shorter, and has the tibiae 

 yellowish in the middle. Biguttatus and 

 ^'Punctatus have the punctured striae very 

 distinct, the punctures being coarse and 

 deep, while siobstriatus (which Dawson re- 

 gards as a variety of liguttatus) has the 

 stri^ and punctures extremely fine and 

 I indistinct. All the species of the genus 

 I have a more or less distinct impression just 

 j before the middle of each elytron, and 

 ^•pimctatus is distinguished from biguttatus 

 by having two punctures on each elytron, one 

 immediately in front of, the other behind, 

 the middle. Biguttatus has generally a pale 

 yellow mark at the apex of the elytra, but 

 varieties occur rarely {semip^mctatics, Fab.) 

 which have the apex entirely bronze. 



Biguttatus and aquaticus are very com- 

 mon — the former in dry, the latter in wet 

 places ; palustris is fairly common ; substri- 

 atus seems local, preferring sandy situations; 

 nifipes is decidedly scarce ; ^-pimctatus turns 

 up now and then, but liguttatus often occurs 

 with one impression on one side and two 

 on the other, which led Mr. Crotch to 

 .suggest what is now pretty generally be- 



I 



NATUEALIST. 35 



lieved, that ^-puTwtatus is simply an acci- 

 dental form of biguttatus. It must be re- 

 membered that the insects of this genus, 

 like many others, have a tendency to become 

 black on boggy ground, and we captured 

 several specimens of aquaticus which are of 

 this colour on the boggy mountain sides 

 near Llangollen. 



ELAPHRUS. 



1 . Tibia and tarsi blue-black - uliginosus. 

 This species also has the thorax more 

 suddenly narrowed behind the middle. 



2. Tibiae testaceous (pale yellow), tarsi 

 blue or grten. . = ,cupreus and ripari^is, 



Riparius is very easily distinguished from 

 cupreus by having a very distinct, raised, 

 highly polished space near the base of each 

 elytron, which is absent in cupreus. The 

 latter is also larger than riparius. E, lappo- 

 nicus I have never seen. It is described as 

 being more oblong than the others of the 

 genus, as being larger (measuring nearly 

 half an inch), and having the eye-spots on 

 the elytra very obscure. 



The species of this genus inhabit swampy 

 places, where they run with great agility 

 during the hottest sunshine, reminding one 

 of a Cicindela. Cupreus and riparius are 

 common ; uliginosus is local ; and lapponicus 

 is very scarce, the only specimens, as far as 

 I know, having been captured on mountains 

 in Scotland. 



BLETHISA. 

 The only species, B. multipunctata, is suf- 

 ficiently described in the characters of the 

 genera. It is rather a local species, inhabit- 

 ing similar localities to the Elaphri. 



CYCHRUS. 



The only British species, C. rostratus, has 

 been well figured by Mr. Mosley, in plate I. 

 It is found in woods, under dead leaves, 

 &c., and is generally distributed over the 

 country. This insect has the power of 

 causing a shrill creaking sound when hand- 

 led, by rubbing the base of the abdomen 

 against the base of the elytra. 



