POMPILUS NIGER. 59 



the silvery pubescence, and the entire insect covered with slate- 

 coloured pubescence, with the extreme base of the segments of 

 the abdomen shining black. 



This species is not found in the London district ; it has been 

 taken at Southend, Weybridge, Heron Court, Hants, Sandown 

 Bay and Luccomb, Isle of Wight, near Exeter, and at St. Mar- 

 garet's Bay and Dover ; it is extremely abundant on the sand-hills 

 near Deal, and also at Lowestoft, Suffolk. The insect usually 

 makes its appearance about the beginning of July : the males 

 are exceedingly active, and difficult to capture. 



6. Pompilus niger. 



P. niger ; alis hyalinis, apicibus fuscis ; abdominis segmentorum 

 marginibus lucidis. 



Sphex nigra, Fabr. Syst. Ent. 350. 22; Ent. Syst. ii. 211. 51. 



Rossi, Faun. Etrus. ii. 64. 819. 

 Pompilus niger, Fabr. Ent. Syst. Supp. 247. 8 ; Syst. Piez. 191. 15. 



Panz. Faun. Germ. 71. 19. 



St. Farg. 8f Serv. Encycl. Meth. x. 180. 4. 



Vand. Lind. Obs. i. 306. 1. 



Shuck. Foss. Hym. 50. 2. 



Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 45. 24. 



Zett. Ins. Lapp. 439. 9. 



Schiodte, Mon. Pomp. Krby. Tiddskr. i. 334. 3. 



Wesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 34. 8. 

 Anoplius niger, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 451. 17. 

 Anoplius miscoides, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 451. 16 ? (var.) 



Female. Length 4-5i lines. — Black and shining ; the clypeus 

 and mandibles with a few long rigid hairs ; the mandibles ferru- 

 ginous towards their apex, with the tips black. Thorax : the pos- 

 terior margin of the prothorax angulated ; the metathorax short 

 and very convex ; the wings slightly fuscous, with a broad fus- 

 cous cloud on their apical margins, and which also occupies 

 the upper portion of the marginal cell ; the third submarginal 

 cell triangular, sometimes petiolated, most frequently so in the 

 males ; the anterior tibiae and tarsi with a row of short slight 

 spines; the intermediate and posterior tibiae and basal joint of 

 the tarsi with a double row of slight spines ; the coxae with a 

 fine silvery down. Abdomen : the basal margin of the second 

 and third segments with more or less of a fine whitish pile, the 

 apex with a few long black hairs. 



Male.— Usually much smaller than the female, more slender in 

 form, the abdomen elongate ; the face with a fine silvery pile ; 



