4. MELECTA. 135 



segments have on each side a broad line of white pubescence, that 

 on the third and fourth attenuated in the middle or interrupted ; 

 the fifth has a spot in the middle and another on each side ; be- 

 neath, ferruginous towards the base, and the margins of the three 

 apical segments with bands of white pubescence. B.M. 



Var. ft. The femora more or less rufo-testaceous. 



Yar. y. The basal abdomiual band entire. 



Male. This sex only differs from the female in having the labrum 

 usually and the scutellum always black ; the coxa?, trochanters, and 

 base of the femora are usually black. B.M. 



This very prettily coloured bee is local, being only found in locali- 

 ties where species of Colletes have established colonies ; it is a 

 summer insect, being frequently found on the ragwort (Senecio 

 jacobcea), and also on the mouse-ear hawkweed (Hieracium pilo- 

 sellum), in July and August. It has not been taken in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of London, but is comraon in the lanes of Kent, 

 Surrey, and Hampshire ; it has also been taken at Barmouth in 

 Wales, and is common iu parts of Suffolk and Norfolk ; it has not 

 been received from Scotland or Ireland. 



Genus 4. MELECTA. 



Apis (pt.), Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat. iv. (1770). 

 Centris (pt.), Fabr. Syst. Piez. 354 (1804). 

 Melecta, Latr. Hist. Nat. xiv. 48 (1805). 

 Crocisa (pt.), Jurine, Hym. 239 (1807). 

 Symmorpha, King, Wig. May. vi. (1807). 



Head transverse, narrower than the thorax ; ocelli in a slight 

 curve on the vertex ; antenna} geniculated, the flagdlum filiform, 

 with the basal joint clavate ; the labial palpi 4-jointed, the basal 

 joint thrice the length of the second, the two apical joints minute, 

 and placed at the side and near the apex of the second joint ; the 

 maxillary palpi 5-jointed, the basal joint short and ovate, the three 

 following joints of nearly equal length. Thorax subglobose, the 

 scutelhim bidentate ; the anterior wings with one elongate marginal 

 cell, rounded at its apex, and three submarginal cells ; the second 

 submarginal much narrowed towards the marginal, and receiving 

 the first recurrent nervure a little beyond the middle ; the third 

 submarginal larger than the second, and receiving the second recur- 

 rent nervure in the middle ; the third transverse cubital nervure 

 much curved towards the apex of the wing. Abdomen conical, 

 truncate at the base. 



The genus Melecta contains, at present, a small number of species, 

 not more than twenty being known, the majority being European ; 

 one species comes from Algeria, and four from Chili ; none have yet 

 been found in North America. In this country we have two 

 species, both being handsome insects, and both parasites on species 

 of thi' genus AnOiopTiora, from the cells of which they have been 



