1868.] 257 
According to the orthodox scheme of tabulation, //. prwimis and binotatus 
have the elytra rather longer than the thorax, whilst in H. dissimilis and quadri- 
punctulus the thorax and elytra are about of equal length : some little care must, 
however, be taken, before working on the basis of this formula of separation, as the 
proportionate difference in the length of the elytra is, at best, not very conspicuous, 
and is, of course, less perceptible when there is any undue hiatus between the 
thorax and scutellum, or when the compared specimens are not set evenly, and in 
a similar manner. I may here observe that the reiteration by Erichson, in his 
descriptions, of the longitudinal row of three punctures behind — and the puncture 
on the inner margin of — each eye, and the two transverse punctures behind the 
vertex, is not unlikely to mislead a beginner j since these characters are common 
to all the species. 
H. PRjEVius, Er. (the Quedius caliginosus of Stephens), appears to be of very 
great rarity here ; indeed, I can only at the present moment refer to two modern 
examples of it, one in Mr. G. R. Waterhouse's collection, and another taken, in my 
company, by Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse, in the month of January, 1863, at the bottom 
of a hay-stack, near Highgate Ponds.* Mr. E. A. Smith, however, informs me that 
he believes he has taken more than one example of it in nests of Formica fuliginosa 
near Highgate ; but he cannot be sure of the identity of his insect, as he has lost 
the specimens. This species, apart from the above-mentioned character, is to be 
distinguished from H. dissimilis (the most abundant and widely distributed in the 
genus, and which usually represents H, prcBvius in collections, — as first remarked, 
I believe, by Mr. E. W. Janson) by its broader head and shorter and stouter 
antennse, the joints whereof are sub-obconic, the apical joints being not longer than 
broad, and the basal joints pitchy-red, — and by its much more finely and closely 
punctured abdomen and darker legs. It is shining black, with pitchy -brown ely ti'a, 
which are more or less rufescent at the apical margin, the reddish tone being 
widely suffused over the sides also in one of the above-mentioned specimens. The 
hinder margins of the segments, and the entire apex, of the abdomen are also 
rufescent, and the legs pitchy-red, with decidedly dark tibiae. 
Kraatz (Ins. Deutschl., ii, 484), in his diagnosis of this species, says of it, 
" elytris thorace paulo hreviorib^is." This is, of course, a mistake ; and is, indeed, 
contradicted by the subsequent description. 
Thomson's H. praevius (Skand. Col. ii, 180) does not exactly agree with Erichson's 
species, since he describes the head as oblong-omte (the same as in dissimilis), 
instead of short-ovate, — the base of the antennae and the entire legs as testaceous 
(qualified, however, by the " obscure testaceis" of his diagnosis), instead of pitchy- 
red, — and the elytra as " limbo testaceo." He states, moreover, that the antennae 
are " capite duplo longiores ;" whereas, according to Erichson, they should be 
" cwpite sesqui longiores." Thomson's description seems, indeed, almost to suggest 
JET. binotatus ; especially as the large size he mentions (2^ lin.) accords better with 
that species than with H. prcuvius. 
* The occasion of the capture of this specimen is impressed upon my mind by the enormous number 
of hybernating Stetii then occurring at the bottom of the above-mentioned hay-stack. I see from my 
note-book that a selection of them made by me, and taljen liome for examination, resulted in 275 speci- 
mens, of about 13 species. My (unsuccessful) object was (o find S. Aryus ; which Mr. G. K. Waterhous* 
had formerly obtained in that neighbourhood.— E. C. K. 
