Becords of Bees. 187 



grapliic account of liis troubles with Indian Halicti, and 

 after working over a series collected by Mr. Comber I can 

 fully appreciate the difficulty of tlie subject. Not only are 

 the species very numerous and often closely allied, but tlie 

 existing descriptions are often hard to interpret. I can only 

 hope that none of the names now proposed as new are 

 synonyms, but in spite of much labour in comparing 

 descriptions and tabulating cliaracters, I fear there remain 

 some probabilities of error. Fortunately the types are all 

 in the Britisii Aluseum, where they can always be examined 

 by students. The following table separates the species 

 described : — 



Mesotliorax shining, with sparse punctures on 



disc 1 . 



Mesothorax dull, minutely rugose or punctured 3. 



1. Labrum ferrug'inous ; flagellum ferruginous 



beneath (male) speculithorax , Okll. 



Labrum black 2. 



2. Second abdominal segment without a band of 



dense tomentum: very small species, witii 



ferruginous tarsi (male) debilinervis, Ckll. 



Second abdominal segment with a dense band 

 of tomentum at base salsettensif, Ckll. 



3. Ocelli small and close together, far from eyes. 



(Ceylon.) kalutarcc, Ckll. 



Ocelli normal 4. 



4. Area ofmetathoraxdull, with widely separated 



prominent ridges. (Ceylon.) sigiriellvs, Ckll. 



Area of metathorax shining, with closer or 

 less regular sculpture 5. 



5. Area of metathorax with only the basal half or 



a little more sculptured. (Ceylon.) semisculptus, Ckll. 



Area of metathorax sculptured all over .... 6. 



6. Smaller ; mesothorax densely punctured all 



over nnsicensia, Ckll. 



Larger ; mesothorax less densely punctured on 

 disc perhumilis, Ckll. 



Halict'is speculithorax , sp. n. 



(^ . — Length about or nearly 7 mm. 



Black, with the sn)all joints of the tarsi pale ferruginous ; 

 pubescence throughout white ; head broader than long, 

 clypeus hardly produced ; labrum and narrow apical margin 

 of clypeus pale ferruginous; mandibles ferruginous, except 

 at base; front dull, vertex sinning; face and cheeks with 

 much white hair ; antenna? long ; scape black, flagellum 

 strongly iufuscated above, beneath pale ferruginous, with the 

 last two joints rather dusky ; mesothorax shining, the disc 

 smooth, with very sparse and small puncture s, all tlie margins 

 rather narrowly but densely bordered with puie white hair j 



