the ApiJ* in tJie British Museum. 55 



gera, Fr., except that in this species it is the typical form 

 which has the tliorax unicolorous, whereas in A. hipartita the 

 var. JlavicoUis is so marked. Again, it would seem that 

 Ai nigroclypeata, Friese, is no more tiian anotlier variet\% in 

 wliich the clypeus and la'orum are black, with the cephalic 

 pubescence of the same colour. Friese (' Die Bienen 

 Afrikas/ p. 270) notices the near relationship, but had only 

 seen specimens of the two forms from East and West Africa 

 respectively. The two forms, however, overlap in Uganda, 

 tlie meeting-place of the East and West African fauna. 

 Further, it would seem that the difference between nigro- 

 chipeata and JlavicoUis applies only to the females, since 

 a large series of males from the following localities show a 

 remarkable similarity : — Sierra Leone (/. J. Simpson), S. Ni- 

 geria (IF. C. W. Eakin), N. Nigeria (J". W. Scott Mac fie), 

 Gold Coast {H. T. Palmer), Uganda Protectorate and 13rit. 

 East Africa {S. A. Neave), Nyasaland {J. E. S. Old), and 

 the Transvaal (/i. P. Tlwmasset). 



Anthophora acraensis, F. 



Without having seen the type it is very difficult to deter- 

 mine satisfactorily the tj-pical form of this species. There is 

 a large series in the British Museum, from numerous localities 

 in both tropical and subtropical Africa, apparently referable 

 to A. acraensis. The specimen described by Fabricius (Ent. 

 Sy.^t. ii. p. 329) was a male. Dours is certainly correct 

 (Monogr. Icon., Anthophora, p. 84, 1860) in interpre'ing 

 the " caput nigricans " referred to by Fabricius as meaning 

 tliat the hairs of the face and head beneath (/. e. behind 

 the eyes) were white, those on the vertex intermingled with 

 black. 



" Ano albo," also from the Fabrician diagnosis, is very 

 vague. According to Dours (/. c.) segments 6 and 7 are 

 covered with white pubescence mixed with ferruginous ; 

 Friese (' Die Bienen Afrikas,^ p. 269) considers segment 5 to 

 be clothed with white hair. Probably this is variable, since 

 in var. albocaudata, Dours, segment i is also white. 



Anthophora adcena, Smith (type in B. M.), has been con- 

 sidered cospecific with A. acraensis, F. ; but "thorax . . . 

 subtus niger " (Fabricius, /. c.) does not agree with Smith's 

 species, in which the sternum is griseous. The fourtii and 

 following segments of the abdomen are clothed with white 

 pubescence, as in var. albocaudata, Dours, of which it may 

 be the male. 



