17 
PLATES LIII. anv LIV. 
ON THE MUTILLA OF NEW HOLLAND. 
—>+— 
Ir is a curious circumstance, in reference to the geographical 
distribution of insects, that the two Hymenopterous groups of 
fossorial species, possessing apterous females, should be so un- 
equally dispersed over the surface of the earth. Whilst the genus 
Mutillz is found in every quarter of the globe, Thynnus is confined 
to the southern hemisphere, and is here only met with in the Aus- 
tralian and South American continents. It is further worthy of 
notice, that whilst Thynnus is a numerous group in Australia and 
rare in South America, the Mutille of the western world are far 
more numerous than those of New Holland and its dependencies. 
It is most probable that the economy of both these groups are 
identical, and that the females are sand-burrowers; and the males 
attached to flowers rather than predaceous in their habits.* 
Genus. —MUTILLA, Linneus. 
The following are all the Australian species of Mutilla which I 
have hitherto seen in collections, or of which I have met with the 
descriptions :— 
Species 1.— Mutilla formicaria. (Plate 53, fig. 6.) M. nigra, capite cinerascenti-hirto, 
thorace nigro, scabro, lateribus vix tuberculatis, abdomine nigro (subpiceo in certo 
situ), linea dorsali macularum albo-cinerascentium lateribusque abdominis albo-hirtis. 9 . 
Long. corp. lin. 9. 
Syn.—Mutilla formicaria Fabricius, Ent. Syst. 2,368. Syst. Piez. p. 430. 
Originally described by Fabricius from the Banksian Cabinet, 
where the specimen still remains. The Rey. F. W. Hope has 
recently obtained a specimen in Mr. Gould’s collections from Port 
Essington. 
Species I1.— Mutilla rugicollis Westw. (Plate 53, fig. 5.) M. nigra nitida scabra, capite, 
maculis dorsalibus pilisque lateralibus abdominis albo-cinerascentibus, thoracis angulis 
anticis lateribusque tuberculato-angulatis, thoracis dorso punctis magnis oblongis, meta- 
thoraceque spatio elongato-triangulari impresso, abdominis segmento secundo magno 
valde scabro, medio tenue punctato, plagaque rotundata albo-cinerascenti alteraque 
semicirculari basali e pilis segmenti basalis formate, segmentis reliquis etiam plaga 
ejusdem coloris notatis.@ Long. corp. lin. 93. 
In the cabinet of the British Museum, ticketed ‘‘ Hunter, New 
* A memoir on the habits of some Indian species of Mutilla, by Captain Boys, was read 
at the Entomological Society, on the 5th June, 1843, in which are described the proceedings 
of a male in the act of dragging along a dead cockroach, in a manner precisely similar to that 
adopted by female fossorial insects, whilst provisioning their nests. It is scarcely to be sup- 
posed that a male Mutilla could have been thus employed. 
NO. XIV.—I1sf JULY, 1843. C 
