188 CERCERIS. 



stripe on the mandibles ; the head fulvous behind, with a broad 

 yellow stripe behind the eyes. 



Var. /8. The head black behind, and the fasciae on the abdomen 

 interrupted. 



The two extreme varieties are given ; several intermediate 

 ones occur. 



Captured once sparingly at Heron Court, Hants, and abun- 

 dantly in Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight ; five or six examples 

 were taken some years ago in Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate ; 

 two or three near Byfleet, Weybridge ; arid a male at Snares- 

 brook, in Epping Forest. This fine insect appears in July and 

 August. 



Genus 2. CERCERIS. 



Sphex, pt., Linn. Faun. Suec. 413 (1660). 

 Crabro, pt., Fabr. Syst. Ent. 374 (1775). 

 Vespa, pt., Harris, Expos. 127 (1776). 

 Philanthus, pt., Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 288 (1793). 

 Cerceris, Latr. Hist. Nat. Ins. xiii. 315 (1804). 



Head wider than the thorax, subquadrate ; the eyes ovate ; 

 ocelli in a triangle on the vertex ; antennae subclavate, inserted 

 in the middle of the face; mandibles stout and tridentate. 

 Thorax ovate, the collar transverse, the metathorax obtusely 

 truncate ; the superior wings with one oblong marginal cell and 

 three submarginal cells, the first longer than the two following, 

 the second triangular, petiolated, and receiving the first recurrent 

 nervure in the middle, the third receiving the second recurrent 

 nervure near its base ; the legs stout and strongly spinose, the 

 anterior tarsi ciliated exteriorly. Abdomen oblong, the first 

 segment narrowed to half the width of the following, and sub- 

 globose ; the margins of the segments constricted ; the apical 

 segment with a central portion bordered on each side by a sharp 

 carina ; on each side is an oblique plane also bordered by a carina, 

 the three planes usually transversely rugose-striate. 



This genus contains some of the most beautiful species in the 

 whole tribe of fossorial Hymenoptera ; they are found in all parts 

 of the world. Some of the Indian species are the giants of the 



