POMPILUS NIGER. 59 



the silvery pubescence, and the entire insect covered with slate- 

 coloured pubescence, with the extreme base of the segments of 

 the abdomen shining black. 



This species is not found in the London district ; it has been 

 taken at Southend, Weybridge, Heron Court, Hants, Sandown 

 Bay and Luccomb, Isle of Wight, near Exeter, and at St. Mar- 

 garet's Bay and Dover ; it is extremely abundant on the sand-hills 

 near Deal, and also at Lowestoft, Suffolk. The insect usually 

 makes its appearance about the beginning of July : the males 

 are exceedingly active, and difficult to capture. 



6. Pompilus niger. 



P. niger ; alis hyalinis, apicibus fuscis ; abdominis segmentorum 

 marginibus lucidis. 



Sphex nigra, Fabr. Syst. Ent. 350. 22 ; Ent. Syst. ii. 211. 51. 



Rossi, Faun. Etrus. ii. 64. 819. 

 Pompilus niger, Fabr. Ent. Syst. Supp. 247. 8 ; Syst. Piez. 191. 15. 



Panz. Faun. Germ. 71. 19. 



St. Faro. 8f Serv. Encycl. Meth. x. 180. 4. 



Van d. Lind. Obs. i. 306. 1. 



Shuck. Foss. Hym. 50. 2. 



Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 45. 24. 



Zett. Ins. Lapp. 439. 9. 



Schiodte, Hon. Pomp. Kroy. TiddsJcr. i. 334. 3. 



JVesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 34. 8. 

 Anoplius niger, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 451. 17. 

 Anoplius miscoides, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 451. 16 ? (var.) 



Female. Length 4-5 lines. Black and shining ; the clypeus 

 and mandibles with a few long rigid hairs ; the mandibles ferru- 

 ginous towards their apex, with the tips black. Thorax : the pos- 

 terior margin of the prothorax angulated ; the metathorax short 

 and very convex ; the wings slightly fuscous, with a broad fus- 

 cous cloud on their apical margins, and which also occupies 

 the upper portion of the marginal cell ; the third submarginal 

 cell triangular, sometimes petiolated, most frequently so in the 

 males ; the anterior tibiae and tarsi with a row of short slight 

 spines ; the intermediate and posterior tibiae and basal joint of 

 the tarsi with a double row of slight spines ; the coxae with a 

 fine silvery down. Abdomen : the basal margin of the second 

 and third segments with more or less of a fine whitish pile, the 

 apex with a few long black hairs. 



Male. Usually much smaller than the female, more slender in 

 form, the abdomen elongate ; the face with a fine silvery pile ; 



