86 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 52. 



BEMBIX mNEI, new species. 



Figs. 144, 145, 187, 209. 



Male. — Black: Labrum, clypeus, mandibles except apices, spot 

 between antennae, scape below, broad anterior orbits much shortened 

 above, narrow posterior orbits, spot on sides of prothorax including 

 lower part of tubercles, tegulae in part, spot on base of anterior wing, 

 conspicuous lateral spots on tergites 1-5, lateral spots on sternites 

 2-6, greater part of femora, tibiae, and tarsi entirely, yellow. The 

 flagellum is neither spinose nor dentate, the middle femora are feebly 

 serrate, and the middle tarsi are short as in the case of cinerea. The 

 second and sixth sternites are without processes. The seventh 

 bears a median carina and a lesser pair of lateral carinae. 



Female. — Black: Labrum, clypeus, mandibles except apices, spot 

 between antennae, scape below, broad anterior orbits, narrow pos- 

 terior orbits, spot on sides of prothorax including part of tubercles, 

 tegulae in part, spot on base of anterior wing, conspicuous lateral 

 spots on tergites 1-5, those on first segment widely separated, those on 

 2-4 attenuated toward mid-dorsal line and more or less approxi- 

 mated, lateral spots on sternites 2-5, greater part of the femora, 

 tibiae, and tarsi entirely, yeUow. 



Length. — 15-19 mm. 



The wings in both sexes are hyaline and the pubescence is white, 

 tolerably dense, and short except on the frons. It is very short on 

 the abdomen except on the sixth tergite of the female, where it is 

 white, long, and mingled with short, stout black spines. The varia- 

 tion in the maculations is slight and insignificant. 



This species stands quite close to B. cinerea Handlirsch, to which 

 species most of the individuals of this one found in our collections have 

 been referred by those who identified them. .A few specimens have 

 been confused with B. heutenmuUeri Fox, from which species the 

 female of this one can with difficulty be distinguished. It difi'ers 

 from cinerea both in size and coloration. These differences, although 

 they are the least satisfactory to depend upon in determining species, 

 are clear cut in both males and females, and I have found no interme- 

 diate forms. In cinerea the abdominal markings on the female are 

 creamy white, in Mnei they are deep yellow; in cinerea the clypeus is 

 bordered with black in the male, in Unei the clypeus is invariably 

 yellow. In cinerea in both sexes the mandibles are black and the 

 tibiae and tarsi are more or less black; in Mnei these parts are almost 

 wholly yeUow, the tarsi invariably so. The genital stipes also differs 

 in form from that of cinerea. 



Named for my friend and first instructor in entomology, Prof. 

 James S. Hine. 



Habitat. — Texas, and Louisiana. 



Number of specimens examined — Males, 10; females, 21. 

 Type.— Cat. '^o. 19S09, U.S.N.M. 



