566 DR. R. C. L. PERKINS ON THE 
as a variation or as a specific character, it would be altogether 
wanting. The importance placed on small differences in neura- 
tion in Hymenoptera has been much overrated, and there is little 
to commend these characters, excepting the fact that they are 
obvious at a glance. 
Some described species it is impossible for me to tabulate, as I 
have never seen specimens of them, and the descriptions, admir- 
able as Saussure’s are in general, omit certain important points. 
Some, not included in the tables, I have referred to subsequently 
with regard to their probable position. .The following may be 
brietly mentioned here :— 
P. albifrons Fabr. If the tegule have a coarse, deep, and con- 
spicuous puneturation, this species would appear to be 
extremely closely allied to P. habilis and subhabilis, but 
superficially distinct by having only ‘“‘ deux trés petits points 
orangés sur le prothorax” and the apical band of the 2nd 
abdominal segment semicireularly emarginate, the emargina- 
tion being much deeper in the other two. 
P. australis Sauss. This would fall in my table in the group of 
P. princeps, oloris, ete. If Saussure’s specimen was correctly 
stated to be a female, the yellow clypeus and front of the scape 
of the antennz would distinguish it from the females known 
to me, which resemble it otherwise in colour, as well as the 
spot on the mesopleura from either males or females of this 
section. 
P. clotho Lep. I know no species with this pattern, except 
Alastor unifasciatus Sm., which lacks the scutellar spots, has 
dark tegule and very dark wings with violet iridescence, 
and is not an Australian species. 
P. cruentatus Sauss. I think it is impossible to identify this 
species without seeing the type. 
P. flaviceps Sauss. I have included this in my table where it 
would appear to belong. If the tegule are coarsely pune- 
tured it is correctly placed. In any case it is distinct 
superficially from all the species which have an entirely 
black basal segment by the sulphur-yellow head with a black 
oval mark on the vertex, enclosing the ocelli. 
P. graefei Sauss. This species from Ovalau is unknown to me 
and not included in my table. 
P. lachesis Sauss. Not included in my table, as the sculpture of 
the tegule is not indicated in the description. Superficially 
it resembles P. orientalis P. 
P. lateritius Sauss. I suspect this of being a slight colour-variety 
of P. carinatus Sm. 
P. nautarum Sauss. Probably tabulated rightly; as it is one 
of the species with “un tubercle saillant en dessous du 
deuxiéme segment,” an emarginate clypeus, and the abdo- 
men all black, except the orange basal segment, it cannot be 
confused with any other known to me. 
