330 ttYMENOPTEKA. 



basal abdominal segment is covered with long white hair ; at the base of the second 

 segment are two small orange marks, and at the apex two roundish-oval ones, the latter 

 more than twice the size of the basal marks ; the third to the fifth segments are covered 

 with pale fulvous hair ; the pygidium is densely clothed with bright golden hair. The 

 basal ventral segment is depressed in the middle and furrowed along the sides ; there 

 is no keel in the centre of the apical portion. The second segment is impressed with 

 large and irregular punctures, and it is covered with long whitish hair, this being also 

 the case with the other segments, which are closely punctured. The coxae, femora, 

 and tibiae are covered with long white hair, the tarsi with ferruginous hair ; the 

 calcaria are white ; the tibial spines are long, sharp, and reddish. 



The next three species are deep velvety black throughout, and bear silvery marks and 

 spots on the thorax and head. They may be separated as follows : — 



1 (2) . The flagellum of the antennae rufous ; the head behind developed 



twice the length of the eyes and without silvery marks .... xanthocerata. 



2 (1). The antennae entirely black; the head behind not twice the length 



of the eyes, and with silvery marks. 



3 (4). The vertex with two small silvery marks; the thorax with four 



silvery marks, the spine on the middle curved, twice as long as 

 broad ipsea. 



4 (3). The vertex with one large silvery patch; the thorax with a silvery 



patch, the spine on the middle not twice as long as broad . . . areta. 



J 



34. Sphaerophthalma xanthocerata. (Tab. XIV. fig. 14, $ .) 



Mutilla xanthocerata, Smith, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 3rd ser. i. p. 35 1 ; G-erst. Archiv f. Naturg. 

 xl. p. 56 2 . 



Hab. Panama (Stretch 1 ), Bugaba 800 to 1500 feet, Tole (Champion), Veragua 2 . 



Smith l says that the thorax has three obtuse teeth on each side before the middle, 

 an expression which I do not quite understand. In the ten specimens before me the 

 middle is contracted; at the base of the contraction is a stout tooth, then there is a 

 blunt, smaller, rounded projection, followed by the usual smooth tubercle at the base 



of the median segment. At the side of the pronotum are two small tubercles one at 



the outer edge, the other inside it ; the sides are oblique, and end at the apex in a 

 triangular incision. The mesopleurae above at the hinder part smooth, glabrous, and 

 impunctate ; the rest covered with a short, sericeous, silvery pubescence, and with a 

 few long hairs. The apex of the metapleurse bears some large punctures, there being 

 also a few at the base. The median segment has a gradually rounded slope. The 

 pygidium is bluntly keeled down the centre ; at the base is some silvery pubescence, 



