302 Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell — Descriptions and 



of metathorax smooth and very brilliant; tegulse shining 

 reddish brown ; abdomen broad, like that of a female, deli- 

 cately but evidently punctured, the hind margins of the 

 segments ferruginous ; apex covered with white hair. The 

 following characters are ascertained with the compound 

 microscope : — Third and fourth antennal joints very short ; 

 apical joint with an oblique flat shining face; the six-jointed 

 maxillary palpi short and stout, but still extending beyond 

 the blade of maxilla, which is short and broad, very obtusely 

 rounded apically ; front strongly punctured ; claws deeply 

 cleft, pulvillus very large. The wings are quite clear ; the 

 venation differs from that of //. tinsleyi, Ckll., by the shorter 

 second s.m., with the first r. n. entering very near its base, 

 and the b. n. falling a considerable distance (about 65 /*) 

 short of t.-m. The labial palpi are short, with first joint not 

 nearly so long as the other three together. The tongue is 

 very short. 



Bab. Santa Clara County, California, at flowers of Pr units 

 ilicifolia (Nuttall) ; four males (0. F. Baker, 7109). 



This remarkable bee is so distinct from genuine Halictoides 

 in its mouth-parts that it must stand as the type of a new 

 genus or subgenus, which may be called Amblyapis. 



Amblyapis, gen. v. subgen. nov. (type ilicifolice). 



Maxillary palpi 6-jointed, stout, with very short bristles, 

 mostly at end of joints ; length of joints in /x: — (1) 135, 

 (2) 100, (3) 85, (4) 75, (5) 68, (6) 100 ; last joint slender ; 

 blade of maxilla about 425 ll long and 220 broad, thus very 

 short and wide, sub triangular, very obtuse at end, with long 

 bristles ; maxillary comb with about five short teeth. 



Labial palpi 4-jointed, very short, joints measuring in fj, : 

 (1) 100, (2)85, (3)68, (4)85. The extraordinary feature 

 of these palpi is in the second and third joints, which have 

 one side heavily chitinized, forming a sort of sheath, which is 

 produced outwards to a bristly point. Paraglossse very 

 short; tongue extremely short. The striated muscle which 

 operates the tongue and adjacent organs is extremely coarse, 

 the strise only about five in 37 li of length. 



In Halictoides tinsleyi the blade of maxilla is divided 

 longitudinally into two parts, the outer, which is shorter than 

 the inner, having a width in middle of 68 ll, and being wholly 

 without biistles or markings. In Amblyapis ilicifolice this 

 outer part is much reduced, about 50 /a- wide towards the 

 base, but rapidly tapering and coming to a point about 170 ll 

 before the end of the blade. In H. denfiventris, Nyl., the 



