238 HYMENOPTERA. 



head and thorax very scanty, white below, mostly fuscous above; 

 mesothorax, scutellum, postscutellum (except at sides) and pleura dull 

 ferruginous, the color exactly as in Callomelitta ; prothorax black, 

 with the anteric r border, next to occiput, red; metathorax black, 

 shining, the area dull, not clearly defined ; mesothorax shining, with 

 minute scattered punctures ; tegulae shining dark reddish ; wings 

 dusky, but considerably paler than in Callomelitta ; stigma and ner- 

 vures very dark brown ; lower section of b. n. strongly bent, falling 

 short of t. m. ; first r. n. joiningsecond t. c. ; third s. m. subquadrate, 

 the second and third together not quite so long as first ; legs very dark 

 brown, the anterior and middle femora black, with red knees ; hind 

 femora with a white, curled, polleniferous scopa ; hind spur simple; 

 abdomen shining black, the first two segments, and the hind margins 

 of the others, very obscurely reddish ; no hair-bands ; apex with dark 

 fuscous hair; venter with glittering white hair. 



A very singular species, almost perfectly imitating Callo- 

 melitta, and also looking not unlike an ant. I place it in 

 Parasphecodes rather than Halictus, as it has the general 

 build and simple hind spur of that genus. It will be easily 

 known by the Callomelilta-like coloration. 



Hab— Melbourne, Victoria, Aug., 1900 (C. F. ; Turner 

 collection). British Museum. 



Parasphecodes contaminatus sp. nov. 



o". Lenth about 8 mm. ; slender, light rufofulvous (approaching 

 orange), with the head blackish, but the clypeus pale yellowish 

 (strongly contrasting with the dark supraclypeal area) ; the mesothorax 

 (except at sides) and a large patch on mesopleura dark brown (prob- 

 ably black in some; the specimen seems slightly immature); fourth 

 abdominal segment with the apical margin broadly brownish, fifth 

 and sixth wich the apical half shining very dark brown; legs wholly 

 without dark color. Hair of head and thorax very short moss-like, 

 light ochreous ; eyes large, converging below ; face narrow ; antennae 

 light fulvous, the flagellum dusky above except at base ; mesothorax 

 shining, bare except around margins; area of metathorax large, 

 without evident sculpture except oblique striae at sides ; tegulae pale 

 testaceous ; wings ample, with a large dark cloud occupying the mar- 

 ginal cell, below and beyond, but not the apex of the wing, though 

 that is darker than the part before the cloud ; nervures and the large 

 stigma dark fuscous ; first r. n. joiningsecond t. c. ; abdomen parallel- 

 sided, apex rounded. Third joint of maxillary palpus with the apical 

 two-thirds very dark ; scape very short ; mesothorax with very fine 

 punctures; abdomen very minutely roughened. 



