4 [June, 



it seems to have fared better, as Dahlbom,* although he mentions four 

 of Shuckard's species, yet only describes one (elongatulus') in full, 

 giving very short diagnoses of the others, two of which he says he has 

 never seen ; "Wesmaelf only describes elongatulus, and says that he is 

 disposed to consider all Shuckard's seven species as yarieties of it. 

 Thomson J also only describes elongatulus, but says nothing whatever 

 about its synonymy. Morawitz§ gives el ong at ulus with full synonymy, 

 including all Shuckard's seven species. 



There is, I think, little doubt that the view held by the continental 

 authors is correct. I have the good fortune to possess Shuckard's 

 collection of this group, and an examination of it quite bears out 

 their opinion. He only knew the $ of elongatulus, luteipalpis, proxi- 

 inus, and transversalis, and only the $ of liyalinus and obliquus ; of 

 propinquus he appears to have known both sexes, but the $ only re- 

 mains in his collection. I have carefully examined all his specimens 

 (transversalis he did not possess), and can find no specific difference 

 between the three $ or the three $ ; he himself suggests that lutei- 

 palpis may be a var. of elongatulus, and that proximus differs from it 

 only in colour, and he also states that he has taken obliquus in company 

 with elongatulus, and yet it never seems to have occurred to him that 

 they could be $ and $ of the same species ; his primary division of 

 the black species is between those with the " base of the metathorax 

 smooth and shining," and those with the "base of the metathorax 

 striated," and it is this division which has led to all the confusion, as 

 it throws the $ into one section and the $ into the other. That these 

 $ and $ belong to each other I think there can be little or no doubt, 

 as they occur together in the same localities, and agree in coloration, 

 punctuation of the thorax, &c, and have been considered as sexes of 

 one species by all the continental authors. Smith has adopted 

 Shuckard's divisions, and therefore comes to similar conclusions as to 

 the sexes, but he gives a $ to pallidipalpis and to obliquus, what these 

 are, his descriptions do not show, as he only gives a few words to each ; 

 but. taking everything into consideration, I think that we may with 

 safety agree with the continental authors, and refer all our seven 

 so-called species to one. The following table of our black-bodied 

 species may be useful to some of your readers : 

 (4) 1. Body petiolated, 1st segment terminating in a node. 



(3) 2. Face with a blunt spine between the antenna?, apex of the tibiae red... 



tibialis. 



* Hymenoptera Europsea, vol. i, 1845. 



t Revue Critique dea Hymenopteres fouisseurs, Acad. Royale de Belgique, t. xviii. 



i Hymenoptera Scandinavian vol. iii. 



§ Crabrunides de St. Petersbourg, Bull. Acad. hup. Sciences Petersb., vol. vii. 





