BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 31 



fulvous, the apical joints of the tarsi ferruginous, and their pu- 

 bescence beneath ferruginous. Abdomen ovate, shining and 

 delicately punctured, the margins of the segments pale fulvo- 

 testaceous and densely ciliated with fulvous pubescence ; at the 

 base of the second and third segments laterally, a line of white 

 pubescence, that on the apex fulvous. B.M. 



Male. Length 3^-4| lines. Head and thorax black ; on each 

 side of the clypeus the face is covered with short white pubes- 

 cence, above it is pale fulvous ; the nose produced, the apex of 

 the clypeus yellow, the mandibles ferruginous at their apex, 

 sometimes having a yellow spot about the middle, the antennae 

 nearly as long as the thorax. Thorax : the disk thinly clothed 

 with pale fulvous pubescence ; the tegulae rufo-piceous and 

 having a yellow spot in front, the wings hyaline, iridescent and 

 faintly clouded at their apical margins ; the four posterior tibiae 

 at their base and apex, and a line on the anterior pair above, 

 yellow; all the tarsi yellow, their apical joints ferruginous. 

 Abdomen oblong-ovate ; the three basal segments red, the 

 apical ones black, the extreme base of the first segment and the 

 apical margin of the third black ; at the extreme margins of the 

 second and third segments a black dot, and on the basal margins 

 of each laterally, a line of white pubescence. B.M. 



Var. a. A black spot in the centre of the second and third seg- 

 ments. 



Var. /3. A broad fuscous transverse stain on the second and third 

 segments, leaving only the margins red. 



Var. y. The apical margins alone red, faintly so in the middle. 



The Melitta malachura of Kirby is probably a variety of the 

 female, having the abdominal fasciae rubbed off. Mr. Kirby, 

 subsequently to the publication of his work, was of the same 

 opinion, as appears by a note in his own copy of the 'Mono- 

 graphia,' 



The Hylceus cylindricus of Fabricius is the male, and the oldest 

 name for the species. Mr. Kirby made a distinct species of the 

 male of the description, considering the dark varieties only as 

 the male ; but the sexes have on more occasions than one been 

 observed " in coitu." All these varieties belong to one species, 

 and minuter ones might be pointed out, but that will be better 

 done by personal observation of the insects themselves ; hundreds 

 of the males may be captured on fine autumnal days, on the 

 Ragwort ; the species is universally distributed, and has been re- 

 ceived from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. 



