MISCOPHUS MARITIMUS. 91 



1. Miscophus bicolor. 

 M, niger; abdominis basi rufo. 



Miscophus bicolor, Jurine, Hym. 206. t. 11. gen. 25 ? . 

 Latr. Gen. Crust, et Ins. iv. 72. 

 Guer. Diet. Class. Hist. Nat. x. 632. 

 Fan d. Lind. Obs. ii. 25. 1. 

 ShucJc. Foss. Hym. 92. 1. 

 Smith, Zool ii. 699 $ ? . 

 Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 235. 135 ?. 

 St. Farg. Hym. iii. 237. i. t. 27. f. 6. 

 Step/i. Illustr. Mand. Supp. vii. 12. t. 42. f . 3 ? . 

 Wesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 72. 1. 



Female. Length 3 lines. Black; the head closely and deli- 

 cately punctured; the mandibles ferruginous. Thorax finely 

 punctured, shining on the disk; the metathorax opake, de- 

 pressed above, with a series of divergent striae at the base, the 

 truncation transversely striated; the wings slightly coloured, 

 their apical margins with a darker cloud ; the legs dark rufo- 

 piceous. Abdomen shining and delicately punctured, the two 

 basal segments ferruginous ; the apical margins of the segments 

 slightly depressed. 



Var. /3. The apical margin of the second segment of the abdo- 

 men black. 



Var. y. The apical half of the second segment black. 



Male. Length 2 lines. Black ; the antennae rufo-piceous be- 

 neath ; the mandibles ferruginous ; the legs simple ; sculptured 

 like the female. 



Miscophus bicolor is a very rare and local insect ; it used to be 

 occasionally taken at Coombe Wood, where I captured it in 1835 ; 

 subsequently it occurred at Sandhurst, Berks. At Weybridge I 

 took both sexes, the male not having been previously taken in 

 this country ; of that sex I took seven specimens, all entirely 

 black ; on the Continent the male has sometimes more or less 

 red at the base of the abdomen : it provisions its nest with a 

 small white-bodied spider, which is found commonly on Heath ; 

 I captured several females with this prey. 



2. Miscophus maritimus. 

 M. niger ; capite thoraceque nigro-seneis, alis apicis fuscis. 



Female. Length 2-2J lines. Black; the head and thorax 

 shining, and with a slight brassy tinge, closely and finely punc- 



