'3o NYSSON INTERRUPTUS. 



Nysson spinosus, Latr. Hist. Nat. mui. 305; Gen. Crust. et /n$.iv.9l. 



Oliv. Encycl. Meth. viii. 804. 



Van d. Lind. Obs. ii. 30. 1. 



Shuck. Foss. Hym. 100. 1. 



Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 169. 100. & 484. 1. 



Wesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 74. 1. 

 Sphex spinosa, Villers, iii. 246. 71. 

 Nysson geniculatus, St. Farg. Hym. iii. 47. 3. 



Female. Length 5 j lines. Black ; the head coarsely punctured 

 helow the antennae, thinly covered with silvery pubescence ; 

 antennae reaching to the base of the scutellum; tips of the 

 mandibles ferruginous. Thorax : the collar with an uninter- 

 rupted yellow band ; the mesothorax closely and strongly punc- 

 tured; the scutellum longitudinally striated; the metathorax 

 coarsely rugose ; wings fusco-hyaline, with a dark cloud round 

 their apical margins, commencing at the base of the marginal 

 cell ; the posterior femora, the apex of the intermediate and 

 anterior pairs, all the tibiae and tarsi, ferruginous ; the anterior 

 and intermediate tibiae have sometimes a dusky ring in the 

 middle. Abdomen finely granulated, the basal segment with 

 strong longitudinal punctures which run into striae at the extreme 

 base ; an interrupted yellow fascia on the apical margin of the 

 basal segment, and an uninterrupted one on the two following 

 segments, slightly attenuated in the middle. 



Male. About the same size as the female, but with a dense 

 silvery pubescence on the clypeus ; the mesothorax beneath the 

 coxae, and posterior femora beneath covered with silvery pile ; 

 the yellow band on the collar frequently more or less obsolete 

 at the sides, sometimes entirely so ; the tibiae usually black, 

 excepting their base; the yellow bands on the abdomen fre- 

 quently more or less interrupted. 



This is the most abundant species in the London district ; it 

 frequents woods and wood-sides, and is very partial to the flowers 

 of the Wood-spurge ; it usually appears in June. I have never 

 seen it burrowing, but the female I have detected entering holes 

 in banks of light earth. The species is widely distributed, and 

 has been taken in Yorkshire in the month of July. 



2. Nysson interruptus. 



jV. niger; antennis paulo capite longioribus, abdomine fasciis 

 tribus flavis. 



Mellinus interruptus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. Suppl 266. 4-5. 

 Mellinus dissectus, Panz. Faun. Germ. 77. 18. 

 Oiybelus interruptus, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 316. 1. 



