116 HYMENOPTERA. 



Vespa Britannica, Leach, Zool. Miscel. i. 112. t. 50. f. 1 cJ , 2 2 , 

 3$. 



Sam. Compend. i. 43. 



Steph. Si/st. Cat. 370. 50. 33. 



Smith, Zool. i. 169. 5, 

 Vespa borealis, Zett. Ins. Lapp. 454. 

 Hab. Europe. 



Note. — M. Saussure considers the Vespa Britannica of Leach 

 synonymous with V. sylvestris ; that this is an error, is proved 

 by an examination of the identical si)ecimens, which are figured 

 in the ' Zoological Miscellany ;' the specimen of the female is 

 one having only a slight tinge of red on each side of the 

 second segment of the abdomen, which is the characteristic of 

 a large majority of the British examples of this sex of the spe- 

 cies, but it is not indicated in the figure ; in the figure of the 

 male the rufous spot is omitted; but in that of the worker, the 

 black band on the second segment is obliterated on each side, 

 leaving only the transverse black stripe so characteristic of the 

 species : the specimens figured by Dr. Leach are in the collection 

 of the British Museum, and each one has the name Britannica, 

 in Leach's handwriting, attached to the specimen ; this places 

 the matter beyond a doubt. It may also be well to mention the 

 fact, that in a whole brood of Vespa Norweyica obtained from 

 the North of England, not more than a dozen of the females had 

 the red spot at the sides of the second abdominal segment ; in 

 Vespa Norwegica the second black band is not produced into an 

 angular point on its lower margin in the middle, but in Vespa 

 sylvestris it is always so. 



8. Vespa media. 



Vespa media, De Geer, Mem. Ins. ii. 790. t. 27. f. 2-7. 



Oliv. Encycl. Meth. vi. 679. 49. 



Latr. Hist. Nat. des Crust, et Ins. xiii. 351. 



Sanss. Mon. Guepes Soc. 129. 9. t. 14. f.9. 

 Vespa Crabro medius, Villers, Linn. Ent. iii. 273. 17. 

 Vespa Austriaca, Pa7iz. Faun. Germ. 63. t. 2 a (var.). 

 Vespa Geerii, St. Farg. Hym. i. 510. 



Hab. North of Europe. 



9. Vespa Crabro. B.M. 



Vespa Crabro, Linn. Faun. Suec. no. 1670 ; Syst. Nat. i. 948. 3. 

 De Geer, Ins. ii. 801. t. 27- 

 Mueller, Edit. Linn. Ins. ii. 880. 3. 

 Gmelin, Edit. Linn. i. 2750. 3. 



