434 



less metallic blue in certain lights ; head and thorax very densely 

 coarsely punctured, cribrate ; abdomen much more sparsely but 

 quite as coarsely punctured; the punctures on the thorax pos- 

 teriorly serried and reticulate, on the abdomen, towards apex 

 finer and shallower, rf similar, much smaller. 



Var. ametJiystinum, Fabr. $ . Metallic green, much shaded with 

 blue to entirely metallic blue ; the sculpture similar, c? similar 

 to the $ , but smaller. 



For the rest, for both varieties, see the generic characters. 



Length, $ 12-16, rf 9-12; exp. $ 21-26, J 16-20 mm. 



Hob. Throughout our limits and apparently spread all over the 

 world. No hard-and-fast line separates the habitats of the two 

 above varieties, but var. ametJiystinum is commoner in Sikhim and 

 in the countries east of the Bay of Bengal, where the rainfall is 

 very heavy, than var. splendidum. 



I have bred var. ametJiystinum from the nests of McyacJiile 

 fraterna, Smith, Meycichile monticola, Smith, and Eumenes pttiolata, 

 Fabr. 



Genus CHRYSIS. 



Chrysis, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1767), p. 947. 

 Pyria, Lepel. $ Sen: Encycl. Meth. x (1825), p. 494. 



Type, C. cyanea, Linn., from Europe. 



Range. Both hemispheres. 



$ . The head varies in shape, triangular or subtriangular, 

 rounded and convex above, occasionally it is globose, sometimes 

 broader than long, rarely quadrate ; mandibles pointed at apex or 

 bidentate ; clypeus generally broad, often subporrect in the middle 

 or emarginate anteriorly; the face up to the front below the 

 anterior ocellus and between the eyes is generally hollow, forming 

 a facial cavity in which the antennae when folded rest ; antennae 

 $ and cJ simple, generally cylindrical ; scape moderately long ; 

 front more or less convex, sometimes slightly hollow round 

 the anterior ocellus ; ocelli always present ; eyes proportionately 

 rather large, lateral ; cheeks below and the sides of the head 

 behind the eyes generally short and restricted ; vertex more 

 or less convex ; occiput transverse or emarginate, occasionally 

 rounded. Thorax : the prothorax short or moderately long, the 

 posterior lateral angles prolonged slightly towards the base of the 

 wings ; the pronotum above more or less transversely rectangular, 

 convex, the sides parallel or slightly convergent anteriorly ; pro- 

 pleurae generally more or less excavate ; mesonotum and scutellum 

 distinct ; inesopleurae generally rugose, very often obliquely grooved, 

 the groove formed by foveate distinct depressions ; the apex acute 

 or rounded, sometimes bidentate, often excavate and margined ; 

 postscutellum well developed, most often convex, rounded poste- 

 riorly, sometimes with a mucro projecting backwards from base ; 

 median segment always more or less suppressed beneath the post- 



