2. BOMBYLIUS 503 



" old spent females basking in the sun and making the most of the last 

 " few hours of their existence. All these (40 ?) Bombylii were much worn, 

 " and therefore useless as specimens. A stroke of the net was, however, 

 " made at one of them, and resulted in the capture of one bee and one 

 " Bombylius. The bee has been identified for me by Mr Saunders as 

 " Halictus villosus, female. Bomhylias canescens appears, therefore, to be a 

 " parasite on more than one species of Halictus." 



It is most probable that this Bomliyliiis was referred to by Dr T. A. 

 Chapman in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine of February 1878 

 when he wrote, " I watched the oviposition of a small brown species, a 

 " number of years ago, when observing the habits of Odynerns s^pinipcs. A 

 " portion of the same hot, sunny bank where S2mii2Jcs had a colony was 

 " frequented by this species, which would approach tolerably close to me 

 " when 1 refrained from moving ; the process of oviposition was conducted 

 " against the bank of earth in a manner closely similar to that adopted by 

 " dragon-flies on the surface of water ; the fly (not, of course, a pair, as 

 " with dragon-flies) would approach the bank within an inch or so, and 

 " carefully examine it, and, if satisfied, would make a little sudden swoop, 

 " bringing the extremity of the body close to the bank, by passing from a 

 " horizontal to a sloping attitude, yet not touching it, the small white egg 

 " being seen to be thrown with a short jerk against the bank. On several 

 " occasions I noticed very closely the spot, but always failed to find the 

 " egg, which was not, however, surprising in the rough and cracked earth. 

 " I over and over again, however, satisfied myself that it was not thrown 

 " into the burrow of any bee, though Halicius and others were numerous 

 " in the same bank." My records extend from May 27 to July 11, so that 

 its period of occurrence is very distinct from the early spring species 

 {B, major and B. discolor). 



Synonymy. — Most of the British records of B. minor undoubtedly refer to B. 

 canescens^ and of three males in the Hope Museum one was labelled "//;/»or"and 

 one "fidmis" while I expect my record of B. posticus Meig. { = B.fugax Wied.) was 

 founded on a large specimen. Walker's description of B. mitior when contrasted 

 with his B. cfenopfcrus ( = canescens) would seem to refer to true B. minor, as I have 

 mentioned under that species ; but Curtis' B. minor (Brit. Ent. 613) was obviously 

 B. canescens. 



4. B. minor Linne. Tawny haired. Wings without any conspicuous 

 markings, though darkened on the basal half in the male. Head without 

 any long black postocular fringe, and the face without any conspicuous 

 black hairs. Legs orange. 



$. Frons small and triangular, bearing on the sides of the fore part short 

 yellowish or whitish pubescence ; face small, less than one-third the width of 

 the head and hardly widening downwards, moderately produced just below 

 the antennae to about one-quarter the length of the eye but then sloping 

 straight back towards the lower eye-angle, covered with light greyish yellow 

 dust and clothed with dense rather long yellowisli to whitish pubescence 

 which is drooping at the ends of the hairs and which overhangs the very large 

 mouth-opening like a drooping fair moustache ; towards the eyemargins on 

 the upper part of the side-cheeks there is only a short glistening scaly whitish 

 yellow pubescence ; the outer edges of the long pubescence include some thin 

 nearly erect long black hairs ; jowls pale greyish yellow and bearing rather 

 long pale yellow pubescence which merges into similar pubescence on the 

 under part of the p_leura3 ; the underside of the head and the space behind 

 the mouth bear whitish pubescence ; back of the head but little inflated and 



