416 APID.1;. 



Genus SPHECODES. 

 Sphecodes, Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii, p. 368 (1805). 



Type, S. gibbus, Linn. 

 Range . Both hemispheres. 



Head as wide as the thorax; body nearly without pubescence; 

 front broad, inner orbits wide apart, parallel ; ocelli in a broad 



triangle on the vertex ; tongue acute, 

 short, not folded ; labial palpi 4- 

 jointed, the 1st joint nearly as long 

 as the following two, apical joint 

 minute ; paraglossae very small ; max- 

 illary palpi 6-jointed, basal joint short, 

 about half the lenpth of the 2nd, 

 apical four joints shorter than the 

 2nd, subequal. Thorax short, broadly 

 ovate ; legs moderately stout, almost 

 1 2 without pubescence : wings mode- 



Fig. 132.— -SpAccoo'es. 1, labium ; rately broad and long, radial cell 

 2, maxilla : much enlarged. acutelv pointed at apex ; three cubital 

 (Smith, Cat. 1, pi. 111.) pgjjg^ ^jjg ^^^ largest, 2nd subquadrate, 



narrow, 3rd slightly restricted towards the radial cell, the 2nd and 

 3rd cubital cells receive the 1st and 2nd recurrent nervures at 

 their apices respectively. Abdomen elongate ovate, massive, the 

 margins of the segments often constricted. 



Nothing is as yet known of the nesting-habits of the few Indian 

 species hitherto recorded. The European species were at one 

 time supposed to be parasitic on the Halicti. Mr. !F. Smith, 

 however, after careful observations, seems to have come to the 

 conclusion that Sphecodes makes burrows like Halictus. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Leo"s entirely black. 

 a' . Wino's fuscous. 



a^. Apical margin of basal abdominal seg- 

 ment only constricted. 

 a^. Clypeus with a medial vertical groove. 8. apicatus, p. 416. 



h^. Clypeus without any groove S. ftimipennis, p. 417. 



b^. Apical margin of abdominal segments 



1—5 constricted S. albifrons, p. 417. 



b'. Wings hyaline. 



ft''. Length 8-9 mm S. montamis, p. 418. 



6^. Length 5-6 mm. 



a^. Head and thorax regularly and strongly 



punctured S. crassicornis, p. 418. 



5^. Head and thorax smooth, with fine 



scattered punctures <S. iridipennis, p. 418. 



b. Legs red, coxae only black 8. rubripes, p. 419. 



718. Sphecodes apicatus, S7n{th, Cat. i, p. 36, $; Dall. Torr. Cat. 



X, p. 1. 



$ . Head and thorax closely and coarsely, abdomen very finely 



