MYRMOSA MELANOCEPHALA. 43 



and longitudinally carinated in the female, in the male trans- 

 verse and plane ; mandibles unidentate and acuminate in the 

 female, large and tridentate in the male ; the thorax longitudi- 

 nally quadrangular, the angles in front rounded ; the metathorax 

 truncated in the female ; the thorax ovate in the male ; the collar 

 transverse, curving towards the base of the wings posteriorly, 

 not reaching them ; the anterior wings with one marginal and 

 four submarginal cells, the second submarginal triangular, re- 

 ceiving the first recurrent nervure near its centre ; the third 

 quadrate, receiving the second recurrent nervure at about one- 

 third of its length, the fourth extending to the apex of the 

 wing; the legs spinose. Abdomen of the female ovato-conic, 

 the first segment somewhat narrower than the second ; the ab- 

 domen of the male oblong, the margins of the segments crenate, 

 the last concave above and tridentate at its apex, which is trun- 

 cated. 



Only three or four species of this genus are known ; the type, 

 M. melanocephala, is the only one found in Britain. Of the 

 habits of the species we are ignorant : they are tolerably abun- 

 dant in sandy situations, and are widely distributed. 



1. Myrmosa melanocephala. 

 Fozmina. — Rufa ; capite abdominisque apice nigris. 

 Mas. — Totus niger. 



Mutilla melanocephala, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 372. 27 $ . 



Oliv. Encycl. Meth. viii. 65. 



Coqueb. Illus. i. t. 6. f. 11. 

 Myrmosa melanocephala, Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii. 266 ; Gen. Crust, 

 'et Ins. iv. 119. t. 13. f. 6?, 8<J. 



Shuck. Foss. Hym. 33. 1. 



Guer. Icon. Reg. Anim. Ins. 429. t. 69. f. 6. 



Nyland. Ap. Boreal. 16.2. 



Wesm. Hym. Foss. Bely. 21. 

 Myrmosa atra, Pans. Faun. Germ. 85. 14 <J. 



St. Farg. Hym. iii. 590. 2. 



Lucas, Explo. Sc. Alger, iii. 287. 

 Myrmosa nigra, Latr. Gen. Crust, et Ins. iv. 120. 



St. Farg. Hym. iii. 591. 4. 

 Myrmosa brunnipes, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 590. 3, var. 



Female. Length 1^-3 lines. — Head black and coarsely punc- 

 tured, the face frequently ferruginous ; the basal half of the 



