BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 63 



the claws ferruginous ; the floccus pale, the scopa pale ful- 

 vous. Abdomen ovate, shining and finely punctured, at the 

 sides is a little scattered griseous pubescence ; the apical fimbria 

 fulvous. B,M. 



Male. Length 4-4J lines. Resembling the other sex, differing 

 in having a pale fulvous pubescence on the face ; the tegulse 

 rufo-piceous ; the posterior tibiae and tarsi rufo-testaceous, 

 the former having a dark stain about the middle beneath ; the 

 intermediate tarsi and the apical joints of the anterior pair, 

 rufo-testaceous ; the abdomen covered with a short, pale, downy 

 pile, its apex fulvous. B.M. 



This is the most abundant and universally distributed species 

 of the genus ; it is not only found in all parts of the United 

 Kingdom, but throughout Europe; examples having been re- 

 ceived from France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Lap- 

 land and Siberia. Sir John Richardson brought specimens from 

 the Arctic regions, south of Lake Winnepeg. Thus the geo- 

 graphical range of one of our most abundant species invests it 

 with an interest which many of its more rare congeners do not 

 possess. It is also one of the earliest bees which enliven the 

 first sunny days of spring. 



15. Andrena similis. 



A. nigra, cinerascenti-villosa ; facie antice albo-barbata ; tibiis 

 posticis apice tarsisque testaceis. 

 Andrena similis, Smith. Zool. vii. Append. Ix. 



Male. Length 4 lines. Black ; the face and cheeks clothed 

 with long white pubescence, that on the thorax above fulvo- 

 ochraceous ; the femora fringed with long white pubescence ; 

 the tegulae rufo-piceous, wings hyaline, iridescent and faintly 

 clouded at their apical margins, the nervures pale ferruginous ; 

 the posterior tibiae and the tarsi rufo-piceous, the former having 

 a black stain beneath, nearly extending to their apex ; the 

 claws ferruginous. Abdomen ovate, shining, delicately punc- 

 tured, and having a thinly scattered short griseous pubescence, 

 the apex fulvous ; beneath, the margins of the segments have 

 a narrow white fringe. B.M. 



This male closely resembles that of A. albicans, but in the 

 finest condition the face is clothed with white, in A. albicans it 

 is pale fulvous ; the pubescence generally is more inclining to 

 cinereous, the abdomen much more finely punctured, and the 



