HYMENOPTERA. 241 



The genus Sphex, as treated in this Catalogue, contains those 

 species only which possess the characteristics of the Sphex Jiavi- 

 pennis of Fabricius. 



Head as wide as the thorax ; eyes ovate ; antennae filiform, 

 inserted near the base of the clypeus, grooved more or less lon- 

 gitudinally in the males, inserted near the base of the clypeus ; 

 mandibles large and arcuate, bidentate within, the teeth notched 

 at their base, forming a rudimentaiy tooth; the apical tooth 

 acuminate. Thorax elongate-ovate, truncated behind ; the collar 

 transverse ; the anterior wings with one marginal and three sub- 

 marginal cells ; the marginal cell elongate, rounded at its apex ; 

 the first submarginal cell as long as the two following ; the second 

 more or less obliquely quadrate, receiving the first recurrent ner- 

 vure at or near its apex ; the third forming a truncated triangle, 

 its posterior margin more or less rounded, receiving the second 

 recurrent nervure about the middle ; the anterior tarsi ciliated 

 in the females ; the claws bidentate beneath at their base. Ab- 

 domen conically ovate. 



1. Sphex flavipennis. B.M. 



Sphex flavipennis, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 201. 10. 



Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii. 293. 3. 



Jurine, Hym. 129. t. 8. gen. 5. fam. 2. 



Ahrens, Faun. Eur op. 4. 18. 



Van d. hind, Obs. i. 94. 1. 



Shuck. Foss. Hym. in. 349. 1. 



St. Farg. Hym. iii. 349. 23. 



Lucas, Explo. Sc. Alger, iii. 271. 

 Sphex maxillosa, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 208. 37. 



Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 26. 9. 



Lucas, Explo. Sc. Alger, iii. 271. 

 Pepsis flavipennis, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 210. 13. 

 Pepsis maxillosa, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 213. 27. 

 Sphex triangulum, Brulle, Exped. Sc. Moree, iii. 365. 807, Atlas. 



t. 50. f. 6 ? . 

 Sphex rufo-cincta, Brulle, Exped. Sc. Moree, iii. 367. 809, Atlas, 

 t. 50. f. 7 ^ . 



Hab. Britain ? ; France ; Italy ; Germany ; Greece ; Portugal ; 

 The Morea; Algeria. 



An examination of a number of specimens shows that the colour 

 of the pubescence on the face of this insect varies ; it is usually 

 silvery, but in some examples inclines to a golden tint ; the latter 

 is the colour described by Fabricius. 



