268 E. T. CRESSON. 



Megachile grandis, n. sp. 



9- — Large, robust, opaque black; head large, transverse, densely punc- 

 tured; face as far up as ocelli, and cheeks with dense white sericeous pubes- 

 cence, that above antennae faintly tinged with yellowish ; clypeus with thin 

 cinereous and black pubescence, the truncate tip fringed with yellow haire, 

 also the mandibles beneath, the vertex has a short sparse black pubescence; 

 thorax very densely punctured, prothorax, mesothorax and pleura clothed with 

 a rather dense white sericeous pubescence, that on mesothorax very short and 

 strongly mixed with black, as well as on scutellum where it is longer; wings 

 more or less tinged with fuliginous, apex darker; legs slender, clothed with 

 short white pubescence, much longer on trochanters and femora beneath, that 

 on tarsi beneath dense and yellow; abdomen about as long as head and tho- 

 rax, broad at base, slightly narrowed posteriorly, the tip obtuse, the segments 

 above with a very short black pubescence, the first to fifth with a narrow api- 

 cal fringe of white pubescence, first segment broadly concave at base, sides and 

 apex with rather long cinereous pubescence, apical segment entirely black, the 

 tip with a compressed rounded projection; ventral scopa generally white, seri- 

 ceous sometimes tinged with yellowish, at extreme apex black. Length .50 — 

 .65 inch. 



Fourteen specimens. (Belfrage; Boll; Heiligbrodt.) In fresh 

 specimens the ventral scopa is silky white, the yellow tinge being 

 caused by admixture of pollen. 



Megachile pruina. 



Megachile pruina. Smith, Brit. Mus. Cat. i., p. 190. 



Fourteen $ specimens. (Belfrage; Boll; Heiligbrodt.) 



Megachile optiva, n. sp. 



9- — Short, robust, black, opaque, closely punctured; head transverse, 

 broader than thorax, sides of face and cheeks beneath with long whitish pu- 

 bescence, above antennae and on vertex it is long, sparse and black, on clypeus 

 it is thin, white and appressed; prothorax, sides of metatliorax and pleura 

 with long, dense whitish pubescence, on mesothorax it is short and black, on 

 scutellum longer and black; wings dusky at tips; legs with short cinereous 

 pubescence, long on femora behind, tarsi beneath with short dense yellow pu- 

 bescence; abdomen short, broad, obconic, deeply and broadly concave at base, 

 sides and apex of first segment clothed with rather long cinereous pubescence, 

 apical margins of segments 2 — 5 with a narrow fringe of white pubescence, 

 apical segment obtusely pointed, obscurely pale sericeous, with sparse black 

 hairs; ventral scopa pale yellowish-white. Length .45 inch. 

 Two specimens. (Belfrage.) 



Megachile mipta, n. sp. 



9- — Short, robust, black, clothed with pale ochraceous pubescence; head 

 broad, transverse, the face as far up as ocelli, cheeks beneath and apical cor- 

 ners of clypeus with dense whitish pubescence, on vertex the pubescence is 

 short, sparse and yellowish; clypeus strongly and rather sparsely punctured, 

 shining, with short sparse yellowish pubescence, except on apical corners 

 where it is long and whitish; on prothorax, lateral margin of mesothorax, scutel- 

 lum, sides of metathorax and pleura the pubescence is dense, long and pale 



