36 BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



14. Halictus gramineus. 



H. nigro-aeneus, pallido pubescens ; abdomine pubescente pul- 

 veroso. 



Halictus gramineus, Smith, Zool. vii. Append. Iviii. 



Female. Length 3 lines. Green, finely and closely punctured ; 

 the apical joints of the flagellum rufo-testaceous beneath ; the 

 head and thorax have a thinly scattered fulvous pubescence, 

 palest on the face ; the tegulae honey-yellow, as well as the ex- 

 treme base of the wings, which are hyaline and splendidly irides- 

 cent, the nervures pale testaceous ; the anterior tibiae, the inter- 

 mediate and posterior pairs at their base, and all the tarsi testa- 

 ceous, the claws ferruginous. The abdomen entirely covered 

 with a very short pale fulvous pubescence, slightly intermixed 

 with paler down, or scales, on the margins of the segments, 

 giving them a subfasciate appearance. B.M. 



Male. Rather smaller than the female, similarly clothed ; the 

 antennae not so long as the thorax, the flagellum fulvous be- 

 neath ; the apex of the clypeus, the labrum and apex of the 

 mandibles yellow. Thorax : the wings as in the female -, the 

 tibiae and tarsi yellow; a ferruginous stain on the anterior 

 tibiae in front, and also a similar spot on each side of the inter- 

 mediate and posterior pairs, the claws ferruginous. Abdomen 

 ovate, scarcely longer than in the other sex. B.M. 



The description of the male of this species will at once show 

 that it cannot be the Apis tumulorum of Linnaeus, who says, 

 " Antennae filiformes, corporis fere longitudine." In H. yrami- 

 neus they are about two-thirds of the length of the thorax ; the 

 typical specimen of tumulorum in the Linnaean Cabinet has 

 three or four of the apical joints of the antennae black, or fus- 

 cous. Of this very distinct species two specimens have been 

 taken on Cove Common, Hants ; there are several in the col- 

 lection of the British Museum, from Devonshire. 



15. Halictus Smeathmanellus. 



H. viridi-eeneus, nitidissimus ; abdominis segmentis intermediis 

 basi utrinque tomentosis albis. 



Melitta Smeathmanella, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. App. ii. 375. 111. 

 Halictns Smeathmanellus, Smith, Zool. vi. 2101. 7. 



Female. Length 3-3 lines. Bright metallic-green, closely and 

 finely punctured; the flagellum nigro-piceous beneath, the 



