UV T. D. A. COCKKUELL. 161 



invasion, leaving relics on the islands to the East and South- 

 east. It is reasonable to suppose a period of elevation, per- 

 mitting the Australian fauna to reach New Guinea, etc., fol- 

 lowed by a period of great elevation to the North, result- 

 ing in an influx of Indo-Malay genera, most of them strong 

 fliers, and quite capable of crossing narrow arms of the sea. 



I have prepared a list of the bees known from the islands 

 East and South-east of New Guinea, 46 in all. It will be 

 seen that 22 species are recorded from the Bismarck Archi- 

 pelago, including New Britain (with New Pomerania) and 

 New Ireland ; sixteen from the Solomons, one from the New 

 Hebrides, and eight from New Caledonia. Only one 

 (Mef/(tchile australoske) is said to be common to any two of 

 these groups. All the species from the Solomons and the one 

 from the New Hebrides are endemic. Of the New Caledonia 

 species, five are endemic ; and one of those not so, the honey 

 bee being certainly an introduction. The remaining two may 

 perhaps not be correctly identified, especially the Halictus, 

 otherwise known from Australia. In all these islands, the 

 CoUetid bees, so conspicuous in Australia and New Zealand, 

 seem to be absent. The Xylocopids seem not to go beyond the 

 Bismarck Archipelago. 



It is obviovis that additional collecting in these islands will 

 produce a great number of undescribed species. . 



Abbreviations: S.m. = subniarginal cell; r.n. = recurrent iier- 

 vure; t c. = transversocubilal nervure; t.m. = transversomedial 

 nervure. 



Meroglossa tetraxantha n.sp. 

 5 Length about 1\ mm. ; head and thorax lemon-yellow, 

 with black markings, the cheeks, prothorax and pleura wholly 

 yellow ; mandibles yellow, dark at extreme apex : mouth- 

 parts prosopiform : clypeus with a broad dark brown bar on 

 each side; long yellow supraclypeal mark bottle-shaped, its 

 apex reaching anterior ocellus ; lateral face-marks extending 

 as broad bands to the top of the head, where they end 

 abruptly, not connecting with the yellow of the occiput; 



