IV. Descriptions of new species of Indian Aculeate 
Hymenoptera, collected by Mr. G. R. James 
Roruney, Member of the Entomological Society. 
By FREDERICK SMITH. 
[Read 15th March, 1875.] 
TWENTY-SIX new species of Indian Hymenoptera are 
described in this paper, and of four or five described 
species the sex, hitherto unknown, 1s added. Guérin- 
Méneville, in the Iconographie du Régne Animal, de- 
scribed an aberrant species of ant, belonging to the family 
Cryptoceride, naming it Cryptocerus bicolor ; this was a 
worker, the male and female being at that time unknown. 
In 1853 I published, in the Transactions of this Society, 
a revision of the family, finding it necessary to establish 
two new genera; to one of these, Meranoplus, I trans- 
ferred Guérin’s species, which came from Pondicherry. 
Mr. Rothney found the insect in the Botanic Gardens at 
Calcutta. The nests he describes as difficult to find. 
Finding a few, however, he visited them almost daily for 
some months. They are made in the ground, at a depth 
of several inches. Not observing any other than workers 
at the mouths of the burrows, he determined to dig down 
and ascertain their contents. At the end of May, 1873, 
he succeeded in obtaining several males, but only one 
female. Whether more are to be found at any time 
remains undetermined. A second female was subsequently 
taken at Barrackpore. These are all that have rewarded 
a three seasons’ industrious search. All the sexes are 
figured in the plate that illustrates this paper. 
Another highly interesting insect, discovered by Mr. 
Rothney, is the female of Pseudomyrma bicolor, the winged 
female not having been previously discovered. 
A new species of the genus Methoca is a valuable .ad- 
dition to the Indian Mutillide. Thirteen new species 
of fossorial Hymenoptera are here described—nine of An- 
drenide, and six of Apide. The most interesting insect 
among the species of Andrenide is one having capitate 
antenne ; it is closely allied to the genus Nomia, but is 
distinct, having only two submarginal cells in the anterior 
TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1875.—PART I. (MAY.) D 
