434 CHEYSIDII).^. 



less metallic blue in certain lights ; head and thorax very densely 

 coarsely punctured, oribrate ; abdomen much more sparsely but 

 quite as coarsely punctured ; the punctures on the thorax pos- 

 teriorly serried and reticulate, on the abdomen, toA\ards apex 

 finer and shallower, cj similar, much smaller. 



Var. ameihyHtimi.m, Eabr. $ . Metallic green, much shaded with 

 blue to entirely metallic blue ; the sculpture similar. S similar 

 to the $ , but smaller. 



Por the rest, for both varieties, see the generic characters. 



Length, $ 12-16, S 9-12; exp. $ 21-26, J 16-20 mm. 



Hah. Throughout our limits and apparently spread all over the 

 world. No hard-and-fast line separates the habitats of the two 

 above varieties, but var. ametJii/stimim is commoner in Sikhim and 

 in the countries east of the Bay of Bengal, where the rainfall is 

 very heavy, than var. splendidum. 



I have bred var. ametliystinuni from the nests of JIe;/ac7iile 

 fraterna. Smith, Meyachile monticola. Smith, and Eumenes pdioilata, 

 Fabr. 



Genus CHRYSIS. 



Chrysis, Linn. Si/st. Nat. ed. 12 (1767), p. 947. 

 Pyria, Lei^el. S,- Sen: Encycl. 3Ieth. x (1825), p. 494. 



Type, C. eyanea, Linn., from Europe. 



Ranye. Both hemispheres. 



2 . The head varies in shape, triangular or subtriangular, 

 rounded and convex above, occasionally it is globose, sometimes 

 broader than long, rarely quadrate ; mandibles pointed at apex or 

 bidentate ; clypeus generally broad, often subporrect in the middle 

 or emarginate anteriorly ; the face up to the front below the 

 anterior ocellus and between the eyes is generally hollow, forming 

 a facial cavity in which the anteunfe when folded rest ; antennae 

 $ and S simple, generally cylindrical ; scape moderately long ; 

 front more or less convex, sometimes slightly hollow round 

 the anterior ocellus ; ocelli always present ; eyes proportionately 

 rather large, lateral ; cheeks below and the sides of the head 

 behind the eyes generally short and restricted ; vertex more 

 or less convex ; occiput transverse or emarginate, occasionally 

 rounded. Thorax : the prothorax short or moderately long, the 

 posterior lateral angles prolonged slightly towards the base of the 

 wings ; the pronotum above more or less transversely rectangular, 

 convex, the sides parallel or shghtly convergent anteriorly ; pro- 

 pleurse generally more or less excavate ; mesonotum and scutellum 

 distinct ; mesopleura? generally rugose, very often obliquely grooved, 

 the groove formed by foveate distinct depressions ; the apex acute 

 or rounded, sometimes bidentate, often excavate and margined; 

 postscutellum well developed, most often convex, rounded poste- 

 riorly, sometimes with a mucro projecting backwards from base ; 

 median segment always more or less suppressed beneath the post- 



