44 MELITTA. {^*. a.) 



submoniliformes, thorace breviores, fusco- 

 nigrae. Abdomen subovale, segmentis tribus 

 ultimis nigris. 



That this is the genuine Nomada gilha of Fa- 

 bricius appears from the specimens labelled by him 

 in the cabinet of Sir Joseph Banks, with which I 

 formerly compared it. He observes, " variat seocu 

 abdomine ioto nifo" I believe I possess the three 

 sexes of this insect, but in all mine the anus is 

 black. Amongst my exotic Apes, I have one 

 which agrees with this description, but it is not at 

 all related to M. gibba, though, at first sight, it 

 somewhat resembles it. It is a genuine j4pis, and 

 seems to come near to A. variegata, but it has a 

 singular labium, elongate, and I suppose, in its 

 natural situation, inflected; gibbous at its base and 

 shaped like an isosceles triangle, with the angle at 

 the vertex somewhat rounded. Of how many 

 joints its exterior palpi consist, I have not yet dis- 

 covered. It may possibly be a connecting link 

 between Apis yciriegatn, and the family with an 

 inflected lip. Scopoli says of his Nomada succivcta, 

 which is quoted, as synonymous with M. gibba, 

 by Fabricius, and after him by Villars and Gmelin. 

 " Ceriferd vix mirior, abdominis segmenta tria ni- 

 gra sunt, margine tamen pallide rufa. Nervi ala- 

 rum majores pariter ruji" Circumstances which 

 do not altogether agree with our insect. On this 

 account I have added a mark of interrogation to 



this 



