A. TULLGREN, SOME SPECIES OF THE GENUS SCOLIA. 469 



9. Scolia (Elis) albicollis Christ. 



1791. Sphex albicollis, Christ, Naturg. Ins. p. 260 $. 

 1798. Tiphia thoracica Fabricius, Suppl. entom. system, 

 p. 254. 



Of this species the collection contains six females from 

 Lombok ( 30 /5 1899) and one female from Java. 



This species is undeniably one of the most difficult ones 

 to clear up. The males are very little known and vary — as 

 I believe — in a high degree. In the Fauna of British India, 

 Hymenoptera. — Vol. I 1897, p. 99, Mr. C. T. Bingham seems 

 to be very uncertain concerning the male of this species. 

 And he supposes that it is a perfectly black one without 

 yellow or reddish marks. 



In the collection of Mr. Aurivillius there is a great number 

 of males which probably belong to this species, but none is 

 onecoloured black. A single one agrees nearly perfectly 

 with the African variety eriophorä Kl. Thus it is black with 

 broad transverse abdominal bands of red colour on the seg- 

 ments 1 — 4. These bands are very deeply emarginated at 

 the anterior margin. The apical segments are black. This 

 specimen, that in other parts agrees with some males of S. 

 thoracica Fabr. (det. Saussure), is collected on Lombok ( 3 % 

 1899) together with eight other males, all swarming around 

 the cacti. These males are perfectly identical with the for- 

 mer, but the transverse bands are yellow. Of the var. coe- 

 lebs Sichel, that is spread in the most part of the Central 

 and South Africa to East-Indies and the Sunda-islands, there 

 are males with yellow as with red transversal bands. 



I give here a description of the male that probably be- 

 longs to this species. 



Male. — Black with a bluish iridescence; the clypeus 

 with a yellow band on each side, a small yellow spöt on 

 the tegulse, the abdominal segments 1 — 4 with a yellow band 

 at the posterior margin: the first one is very broad with pa- 

 rallel margins, the second and third ones are very deeply 

 and broadly emarginated at the anterior margin, the fourth 

 one is very narrow abrupted in the middle. The upper side 

 of the tibise with a yellow stripe. 



