194 CERCERIS ORNATA. 



Crabro variabilis, Schrank, Faun. Boic. ii. 339. 2190. 

 Philanthus semicinctus, Panz. Faun. Germ. 47. 24. 

 Cerceris ornata, Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii. 317. 3; Nouv. Diet. ed. 2. 

 v. 512. 



Walck. sur le genre Halict. 80. 



Van d. Lind. Obs. ii. 117. 13. 



Shuck. Foss. llym. 239. 4. 



Wesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 105. 6. 

 Cerceris variabilis, Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 196. 118. 



Female. Length 5-6} lines. — Black, shining, and punctured ; 

 the face below the insertion of the antennae, the scape in front, 

 and the mandibles, yellow ; the flagellum beneath, except the 

 basal joint, fulvous. Thorax : a yellow spot on the tegulse ; 

 the wings fulvo-hyaline, with their apical margins faintly 

 clouded, their anterior edge is also darker ; the thorax has a 

 thin cinereous pubescence ; the triangular space at the base of 

 the metathorax smooth and shining, with a few short scratches 

 on each side at the base; the tibiae, tarsi, and tips of the femora 

 yellow, the latter usually inclining to ferruginous; the pos- 

 terior tarsi more or less fuscous. Abdomen : a yellow band at 

 the base of the second segment, and the third and fifth seg- 

 ments entirely yellow ; the second segment frequently with a 

 triangular black spot in the middle of its base, and the fifth 

 with a central emargination. 



Yar. a. The abdominal bands entire. 



Var. 0. The band on the fifth segment reduced to a thin waved 

 line. 



Var. y. A spot on each side of the collar, the post-scutellum, 

 the second segment at the base, and the third, fourth and fifth 

 segments, yellow; the fourth segment with a triangular black 

 spot in the middle of its base. 



Male. Length 4-5} lines. — Very closely resembles the female, 

 but usually has the yellow segments of the abdomen uninter- 

 rupted ; in small examples, the fourth and fifth segments are 

 entirely black, and the mandibles are black, or with merely a 

 yellow dot at their base; in highly coloured examples, the 

 third, fourth, fifth and sixth segments are yellow, and there is 

 a yellow spot on the apical segment. 



This variable and beautiful species is very abundant in many 

 situations ; it has occurred in the London district, frequently in 

 the neighbourhood of Battersea, Putney, Wandsworth, &c. ; in 

 Kent, at Darenth, Foot's Cray, Gravesend, Canterbury, and 

 Dover ; in the Isle of Wight, and Hawley, Hants ; it has also 



