216 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



points, so far as it goes, in this latter direction. 1 cannot 

 induce the female of the Eeazzino Melitaa to lay on any of the 

 usual food-plants of this group, though others of the group 

 lay freely in captivity, which may point to some specializa- 

 tion in the matter of food-plant, or may have no significance 

 whatever. These latter remarks apply only to the Eeazzino 

 insect, for Assmann has given a brief description of the larva of 

 britomartis from Klarenkrantz, which, if trustworthy, is sufficiently 

 distinctive, though in some points it approaches more closely to 

 dictynna, and in others to parthenie or aurelia. 



I must not, however, be taken to suppose that the anatomical 

 evidence is in these cases of no importance, merely because I 

 believe that a wrong deduction has been drawn from the facts; on 

 the contrary, I believe that they give a valuable indication of the 

 phylogeny of the species in question, and in the absence, so far, 

 of any evidence compelling us to believe the contrary, we may 

 at present assume that the connection between britomartis and 

 dictynna on the one hand, and dictynnoides and aurelia on the 

 other, is much closer than the double-brooded habit of the first- 

 named species and the general appearance of each pair of 

 species would lead us to suppose. The scarcity of dictynna at 

 Eeazzino and of aurelia on the Cecina and Tatra gives some 

 slight support to the same theory, since it is well recognized 

 that the struggle for existence is most severe between the 

 most closely related species. 



(To be continued.) 



SOME BEES OF THE GENUS CROCISA FEOM 

 ASIA AND AUSTEALIA. 



By T. D. a. Cockerell. 



The beautiful parasitic bees of the genus Crocisa abound in 

 the tropics of the Old World, and extend in diminished numbers 

 into the warm temperate regions north and south. Their study 

 has been considered difficult, owing to the supposed wide range 

 and great variability of many of the species. Having paid some 

 attention to the genus for a number of years, I am convinced 

 that the species are more numerous and restricted in range than 

 has been generally supposed. The identification of the described 

 forms is not altogether easy, owing to the brevity of most of the 

 descriptions ; in some cases, when I have not seen material from 

 the type locality or its vicinity, I may have erred in my deter- 

 minations, being obliged to suppose identity when there is sub- 

 stantial agreement with the descriptions, and nothing is known 

 to the contrary. 



