1902.] 207 



IS MACROPRYA R.EMATOPUS, Pz., A BRITISH INSECT? 

 BY THE KEV. F. D. MOKICE, M.A.., E.E.S. 



In Mr. Cameron's " Monograph " Macrophya rujipes, Liun., and 

 M. hcematopus, Pz., are both given as British species, and are said to 

 be easily separated by the coloration, rujipes having a red -banded 

 abdomen and white marks on the pronotum and coxae, while in hcema- 

 topus the abdomen is unhanded and the pronotum and coxee black. I 

 have, however, often been puzzled by British specimens which, 

 according to the above diagnosis, would belong by their abdomen to 

 rujipes, and by their other characters to hcematopus. And lately I 

 took near Kipley (Surrey) along with normal specimens of rujipes 

 another, which struck me as clearly not differing from them specifically, 

 but which had all the characters, including the immaculate abdomen, 

 assigned by Mr. Cameron to hcematopus. 



This led me to examine carefully my foreign specimens of the 

 two species, and 1 then found that, quite apart from the coloration, 

 the two species differ very markedly in sculpture. In rujipes the 

 thorax and abdomen are microscopically rugulose and consequently 

 somewhat dull above, and are also rather largely and coarsely punc- 

 tured. In hcematopus the thorax and at least the basal part of the 

 abdomen are quite smooth and shining, and the punctures so intensely 

 fine as to be almost imperceptible. This difference seems to me much 

 more important than the coloration. But I noticed, also, that in all 

 my specimens of hcematopus the red on the legs was of a deeper tint 

 than in rujipes (crimson rather than ferruginous), and that in all my 

 females of hcematopus the clypeus, the scutellum, and all the trochanters 

 were black, while in those of rujipes these parts were white or yellow. 



Mr. Cameron having mentioned that the only certain British 

 locality for hcematopus known to him was Glanvilles Wootton,I wrote 

 to Mr. C. W. Dale, asking if he would allow me to examine the 

 specimens referred to. He tells me, however, that he does not possess 

 hcematopus, "nor anything at all like Panzer's figure," and that Mr. 

 Cameron's record of it as occurring at Glanvilles Wootton should 

 apply to rujipes. He tells me also that the name hcematopus was in- 

 troduced into the British list first by Samouelle, and refers me for an 

 explanation of the error to JSteph. 111., vii, p. 62. That passage is 

 also cited by Mr. Cameron as an authority for hcematopus ; but in it 

 Stephens, after describing what he calls hcematopus, Pz., expressly 

 declines to vouch for its occurrence in Britain ! 



