AMMOPHILA. 17 



/ 



23. Ammophila azteca. 



Nigra, nitida, fusco-hirta, abdominis medio rufo ; alis fumatis, apice fere hyalinis. $ . 

 Long. 14-20 millim. 



Hob. Mexico, Mazatlan (Forrer). 



Head broader than the mesothorax, shining, sparsely covered with longish fuscous 

 hair, and with moderately large punctures; clypeus scarcely projecting, the apex 

 broadly rounded ; frontal furrow narrowed, deep ; mandibles black, shagreened, and with 

 a few punctures. Ocelli almost forming a triangle, and widely separated from the eyes. 

 Third antennal joint nearly twice the length of the fourth. Pronotum with a ( -shaped 

 furrow. Thorax moderately convex, with rather long hair which varies in tint from 

 fuscous to cinereous ; pro- and mesothorax rather strongly punctured ; scutellum 

 strongly longitudinally striolated ; postscutellum rugosely punctured ; metanotum 

 closely transversely striated ; metapleurse irregularly rugose. The prothorax is depressed 

 in the centre ; there is a depression in the middle of the mesonotum (very broad near 

 the scutellum) ; and the metanotum is depressed in the centre. There is a silvery pile 

 along the oblique furrow on the mesopleurse. Coxae sparsely covered with white hair ; 

 the femora and tibiae with a very indistinct hoary pile ; calcaria and claws testaceous ; 

 spines fuscous ; the apices of the tarsal joints obscure testaceous. The apical three 

 fourths of the second segment of the abdomen, the whole of the third segment, and the 

 lower side of the fourth, reddish. The upperside of the second cubital cellule is fully 

 three times the length of the upperside of the third and longer than the space bounded 

 by the recurrent nervures ; the first recurrent nervure is received before the middle ; 

 the second transverse cubital nervure is bent backwards ; the third curves backwards 

 at the top, so that the third cellule is twice the width of the top at the bottom. 



An example which is perhaps the male (from Orizaba) has the clypeus and face 

 densely covered with long silvery pubescence, an oblique stripe on the mesopleura, and 

 the whole thorax bearing a long pale pubescence ; it also has the clypeus transverse at 

 the apex, and, if anything, slightly incurved in the middle. 



i 



** Petiole entirely red. (Species 24, 25.) 



J4. Ammophila volcanica. (Tab. I. fig. 19, $ .) 



Nigra, argenteo-pilosa, punctata, abdominis segmentis l°-4 m runs ; alis fumatis. $ . 

 Long. 19 millim. 



Hah. Panama, Volcan de Chiriqui, 2000 to 3000 feet (Champion). 



The silvery pile on the head is densest and longest on the face and clypeus, and 

 there are a few longish white hairs ; the vertex, front, and cheeks are shagreened ; the 

 clypeus bears some punctures and is almost transverse at the apex in the middle, and 

 the sides are obliquely rounded ; front depressed in the centre, and with a shallow 

 keel ; ocelli in a triangle, and surrounded by a furrow. Third antennal joint more 



biol. centk.-amee., Hymenopt., Vol. II., October 1888. dd 



