650 MR. F. DAY ON THE RANGE OF APOGON ELLIOTI. [May 17, 



Allied to M. vindex. Smith, from S. Africa, and M. pi-odigiosa, 

 Gerst., from E. Africa. 



Male. Head, antennge, prothorax, and legs reddish, a very nar- 

 row bright red line round the eyes, and the mouth also shading into 

 bright red ; mesothorax black above, with three carinas in front, and a 

 broad raised ridge behind ; scutellum deeply incised ; metathorax 

 oval, truncated behind, and clothed with long hair. Pectus and 

 abdomen clothed with a coppery green pile ; the middle of the pectus 

 with a few long grey hairs. Wings deep purple or violet, with blue 

 and green reflections. 



Female. Similar, but with the red colouring less marked, espe- 

 cially on the head and prothorax. 



SPHEGIDiE, 

 4. PeLOP(EUS ^GYPTIUS. 



Sphex cegyptia, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 569, no. 4 (1758). 

 Sphex spirifex, Linn. loc. cit. p. 570. no. 8. 

 A common species in South Europe, and apparently spread over 

 nearly the whole of Africa. 



6. On the Range of Apogon ellioti. By Francis Bay, F.Z.S. 



[Eeceived April 29, 1881.] 



Apogon nigripinnis, Giinther, Catal. i. 1859, p. 235; Plavfair, 

 Fish. Zanzibar, 1866, p. 20 (not Cuv. & Val. ii. p. 152). 



A. ellioti. Day, Fishes of India, part. i. 18/5, p. 63, pi. xvii. 

 fig. 1. 



A. arafurce, n. sp., Giinther, Shore Fishes of 'Challenger,' 1880, 

 p. 38, pi. xvi. fig. c. 



Among the littoral forms of fishes collected by the 'Challenger' 

 are some which appear to me to have a much wider range than is 

 adverted to in the late interesting contribution to our ichthyological 

 knowledge. Having been in Loudon last week, I took the oppor- 

 tunity of re-examining the forms in the national Museum recorded 

 as A. nigripinnis, and likewise the fine single example of -4. arafurce 

 brought home by the Expedition from the Arafura Sea. 



I would premise that, having had the opportunity of comparing the 

 example at the Jardin des Plautes, said to be the type of ^. nigri- 

 pinnis, C. v., with the one I figured in the ' Fishes of India,' pi. xvi. 

 fig. 6, I feel confident of their being identical. I also think that 

 there can exist but little reasonable doubt that most of the spe- 

 cimens named A. nigripintiis in the British Museum are young 

 examples of A. ellioti. They were received from Zanzibar, the East 

 Indies, and China. 



When I published the 'Fishes of India,' I only possessed two 

 examples from India. Since that time, owing to the kindness of Dr. 



