THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 103 
of Fabricius, but not of Linneus, which name is correctly 
applied to the preceding species, which it closely resembles. 
It seems to have been first described by Fourray; and 
Mr. Smith now combines it with his own S. pellucida, 
described at p. 1014 of the ‘Zoologist.’ It is equally 
abundant with Sphekodes gibba, frequenting composite 
flowers in the autumn, particularly those of thistles and 
ragwort. ‘The thorax of 8. gibba is wavy ; that of 8. rufescens 
finely punctured. 
3. S. subquadrala.—This species seems of somewhat 
doubtful distinction. I have a single specimen so-named by 
Mr. Smith. I took ito ff the blossoms of the ragwort (Senecio 
Jacobea), in a gravel-pit on Blackheath, very near Vanburgh 
House. Mr. Smith says he had the good fortune to discover 
a colony of it; and, by watching it until the time when the 
males usually appear, at length succeeded, in the month of 
August, in capturing both sexes in the nest. The females 
were readily distinguished by their subquadrate heads from 
all the other species. The males are not so easily distin- 
guished ; they most closely resemble those of 8. gibba, but 
their heads are not wider than the thorax, the antenne are 
proportionately shorter, and the wings are not fuscous as in 
that species. Fig. 5 represents a female. 
4, S. Ephippiata.*—This little bee is extremely common 
on composite flowers, particularly of ragwort, thistles, and 
scabious, I have occasionally found it abundantly on the 
field scabious (Scabiosa arvensis), or, in modern parlance, 
Knautia arvensis, and less commonly on Scabiosa succisa. 
It occurs also on Jasione montana on Blackheath, and on 
Ageratum Mexicanum in gardens. Mr. Smith has said nothing 
of its favourite flowers, localities, or economy; but, like 
several previous authors, he raised the varieties into species, 
and again united them, as in duty bound. Sex has also some 
bearing on the aspect of the insect, and probably also on its 
coloration. It is less and more slender than its congeners, 
and has a good deal the appearance of a small Halictus. 
Mr. Smith has a very excellent paragraph on this subject, 
which is admirably appropriate, and will be found particularly 
useful here, as I have no figure :— 
* Misprinted “ Ephippia”: the word probably meaning “ ephippiatus,” or 
saddled, in allusion to the red on the abdomen having a fancied resemblance 
to a saddle. 
