BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



1. Prosopis communis. 

 P. atra ; fronte maculata ; tibiis posticis albido annulatis. 



Hylaeus annulatus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 305. 12 ? . 



Panz. Faun. Germ. 55. 3. . 



Latr. Hist. Nat. xiii. 360. 1. 



Zett. Ins. Lapp. 463. 1. 



Smith, Tram. Ent. Soc. iv. 29. 1 ; Zool. vi. 2202 <? ? . 

 Melitta annulata, Kirby, Mon. Ap. Angl. ii. 36. 3 $ ? . 1. 15. f. 3. 

 Prosopis annulata, /tor. Syst. Piez. 293. 1. 



/>m. Ins. Lig. fasc. i. 1 12. 3. 



AV/and. 4. .Borea/. 187. 1. 

 Hylaeus communis, Nyland. Revis. Ap. Boreal. 234. 



Female. Length 2-3 lines. Black ; head and thorax finely and 

 very closely punctured ; the face has on each side of the clypeus 

 an oblong angulated macula, touching the eyes, sometimes re- 

 duced to a mere line. Thorax : an interrupted yellow line on 

 the collar, rarely obliterated ; the tubercles and a spot 0*1 the 

 tegulae yellow, that on the former sometimes obliterated, that 

 on the latter rarely so ; the posterior tibiae have a pale yellow 

 ring at their base, and the extreme base of the anterior and in- 

 termediate pairs sometimes yellow. Abdomen ovate, smooth 

 and shining. B.M. 



Male. Length H-2f lines. Black; punctured as in the female, 

 the thorax beneath coarsely so ; the clypeus, a triangular shape 

 above it, and the face on each side as high as the insertion of 

 the antennae, yellow ; the sides of the clypeus sometimes black ; 

 in rare instances a yellow line in front of the scape of the an- 

 tennae ; the intermediate and posterior tarsi at their base, and 

 also the posterior tibiae at their base yellow. B.M. 



The face of this species is more triangular than that of the 

 other species, and the yellow markings are of a deeper colour ; 

 like the rest of the species of this genus they are extremely 

 partial to the flowers of the wild Mignonette (Reseda odor at a\ 

 on which they are commonly found during the months of June 

 and July. 



The typical specimen of annularis is preserved in the Linnaean 

 Cabinet, and differs from the present species in several particu- 

 lars ; it has not yet been found in this country, but it may pro- 

 bably occur in Scotland. 



