248 SPHEGID>E. 



punctured ; median segment transversely finely rugulose ; abdomen 

 smooth, somewhat aciculate above ; clypeus cone-shaped, its 

 anterior margin arched, narrowly smooth and porrect, studded 

 above with coarse punctures and rather stiff hairs ; a deeply im- 

 pressed line on the front above the base of the antennae to the 

 ocelli, dividing at the anterior ocellus into two and reaching the 

 vertex ; pronotum entire, not longitudinally sulcate ; median 

 segment roundly truncate posteriorly; legs stout, the tibiae and 

 tarsi spiuose ; petiole short ; abdomen widely fusiform, slightly 

 vertically compressed. Intensely black, Avith black pubescence on 

 the front and median segment ; the sides of the face and the 

 clypeus in certain lights with silvery pile ; Avings light oily yellow, 

 broadly fuscous along the apical margin ; nervures testaceous, 

 tegulae black. 



d similar, but the clypeus is longer, more convex, \Wth its 

 anterior margin not so arched and not porrect ; the antennae and 

 petiole of abdomen are longer, and the wings of a more fuscous 

 yellow. 



Hah. Sikhim ; Bengal ; Assam ; Burma ; and, according to Kohl, 

 Egypt, Zanzibar, Ceylon, and Amboina. $ . Lenrjtli 25-32 ; exp. 

 50-54 mm. S • Length 22-28 ; exp. 44-50 mm. 



466. Sphex nigripes, S7nith, Cat. iv, p. 254, 2 ; ^(^^^} ^^"- ^^atur- 



hist. Hufinits. Wien, v, 1890, p. 421. 

 Sphex siamensis, Taschb. Zeitschr. ges. Naturmss. Halle ^ xxxiv, 



p.413, ?. 

 Sphex erythropoda, Cam. 3Iem. Manch. L. Ph. Soc. (4) ii, 1889, 



pp. 108 & 110. 



5 . Head and thorax pruinose ; abdomen smooth, finely aciculate; 

 clypeus cone-shaped, convex, the centre distinctly raised, its 

 anterior margin arched, narrowly smooth and porrect ; pronotum 

 entire, not divided by a longitudinal sulcation ; scutellum and 

 postscutellum prominent, with just an indication of a central 

 longitudinal division ; median segment finely transversely rugulose, 

 with a steep slope at apex and a well-marked central longitudinal 

 groove, covered with a fine velvety pubescence ; legs stout, rather 

 long, the tibiae and tarsi spinose ; petiole of abdomen short ; 

 abdomen broadly subfusiform. Opaque black ; the sides of the 

 face and the clypeus with a dense silvery pile having a golden 

 tinge in certain lights ; the pubescence on the head and median 

 segment black ; legs black, the posterior femora and tibiae red ; 

 wings flavo-hyaline, with the apical margin broadly fuscous. 



<S similar, but smaller, with the wings darker ; the clypeus 

 longer, and having its anterior margin very slightly arched, almost 

 truncate. 



This species is very variable so far as the colour of the wings 

 and legs is concerned. The wings in certain specimens are dark 

 fuscous with a brilliant purple effulgence, and have very little of 

 the yellow tinge on the disc. The femora and tibiae of all the legs, 

 or of the intermediate and posterior pair, or of the posterior pair 

 only, may be wholly or partially red. 



