388 ■ Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. XXII, 



has identified as Allocotasia aiirata F. was taken wliile preying on 

 a bee belonging to this species. 



Nomia westwoodi Grib., p. 449. 



Barkuda, 2 ex., i7-viii-20 {Dover) ; i7-ix-i9 (Brunet(i). 



Bingham records this species from Bengal. It is represented 

 in the collection of the Z.S.I, from the Kangra valley, Paresnath 

 and Calcutta. 



Steganomus nodicornis Smith, p. 460. 



Barkuda, i ex., 25-vii-4-Yiii-i7 {Annandalc). 



Previousl}^ known from Barrackpore in Bengal, Lucknow and 

 Allahabad. There are specimens in the Z.S.I, collection from 

 vSikkim, Siripur in N. Bengal, Bangalore, Mussorie, Dehra Dun 

 and lyucknow. Rothney, (/oc. c;'^. p. 115) says of this species: 

 " It is a charming little bee and has a cpite wierd little flight 

 of its own, which is very puzzling till you get accustomed to 

 it. The little white flowers of a species of Pulicaria are much 

 frequented, and it has a habit of settling drawn up in a little com- 

 pact ball on the stem beneath the flower, when it is almost im- 

 possible to discover it. I have been out collecting with a friend a 

 whole day where this bee was fairly common without his captur- 

 ing a single specimen until initiated in their ways." I have 

 shared a similar experience myself, and it is this habit which pro- 

 babl}^ accounts for the fact that only a single specimen was col- 

 lected on Barkuda. 



Megachile disjuncta (Fab.), p. 480. 



Barkuda, 4 ex., i5-22-vii-'i6 {Gravely) ; 3-19-viii-iq {Gravely) ; 

 20-ix-20 {Brimetti); j-w-io {Annandale). 



Recorded from India, Burma and Tenasserim. Somewhat 

 scarcer than the following species. 



Megachile lanata (Fab.), p. 480. 



Barkuda, 3 ex., ix-20 (Gravely); iv-20 {Annandale and 

 Dover). 



A common insect recorded from most parts of India, Burma, 

 Tenasserim and Ceylon. This solitar}^ bee was common to the 

 extent of being a nuisance on Barkuda in April, 1920, where it 

 used to build its cartridge-shaped mud nest in the backs of books 

 and in every available hole and corner.' Its nest appeared to be 

 parasitized by Megachile disjuncta. 



1 Cf. Home, Trans. Zool. Soc. Loud., VII, p. 176 (1872) for a description ot 

 the habits of this species and for many other coinmon species mentioned in this 

 paper. 



