248 Mr. E. Saunders' Synopsis of 



15. Andrena Clarkella, Kirby. 



Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. ii., p. 130 ; Smith, Cat. Brit. 

 Hym.,"2nd ed., p. 39. 



Black ; face in the ^ clothed with pale brown hairs, in 

 ? with black. 3rd joint of antennte in <? equal to the 4th 

 and 5th together. Thorax in both sexes clothed wdth brown 

 hairs, which are of a brighter colour in the ? . Abdomen 

 sparingly clothed with short brownish hairs in the S , 

 densely with black hairs in the ? . Tarsi often pale in 

 the (? ; posterior tibiae and tarsi in the ? clear testaceous ; 

 scopae golden; apical ventral valve of ^ parallel-sided, 

 rounded at the apex. Wings clear in both sexes, cloudy 

 towards the apex, nervures pale ; recurrent nervure 

 received near the apex of the 2nd submarginal cell. 



^ . Face clothed with pale brown hairs, margined 

 with black along the eyes. Mandibles rather long, but 

 not pointed, with a tooth close to the apex, base simple. 

 Antennae reaching to about the scutellum, 3rd joint very 

 long, almost as long as the 4th and 5th together, 4th 

 considerably shorter than 5th. Thorax clothed with 

 brown hairs, intermixed with a few black ones on the 

 sides of the metathorax and below the wings. Abdomen 

 suboval, slightly shining, very finely and remotely punc- 

 tured, and sparingly clothed with ochreous hairs, the 

 posterior margins of the segments pale, apex clothed 

 with pale golden hairs ; beneath punctured, apex of 

 each segment pale, and densely ciliated with short golden 

 hairs ; apical ventral valve parallel- sided, rounded at 

 the apex. Legs clothed with pale golden hairs, apex of 

 the posterior tibiae and tarsi often testaceous. 



? . Head densely clothed with black hairs. Thorax 

 above clothed with fulvous-brown hairs, beneath with 

 black. Abdomen densely clothed with black hairs, in some 

 varieties with a band of paler hairs on each segment ; 

 apical dorsal valve triangularly raised in the middle ; 

 under side and legs clothed with black hairs ; posterior 

 tibiae and tarsi clear testaceous, clothed with golden 

 hairs. Length 11 — 13 mm, 



Hal). One of the very early spring bees, but not gene- 

 rally common. Norwich, Hampstead Heath, Hastings, 

 Glanville's Wootton, Dorset, Scotland, &c. 



The 2 is quite distinct by its densely hairy black body 

 from all the other species ; the <? is most like that of 

 niyrocenea, but the long 3rd joint of the antennae will 



