BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 39 



il 



18. Halictus lencopus. 



H, viridi-seneus, abdomine nigro. Mas, antennis subtus fulvis; 

 tarsis albidis. 



Melitta leucopus, Kirhy, Mon. Ap, AngL ii. 59. 18 ^ . 

 Halictus leucopus, Smith, ZooL vi. 2101. 7 <? ? . 

 Nyland. Ap, Boreal, p. 247. 23. 



Female, Length 3 lines. — Head and thox^ax dark green, the 

 clypeus slightly produced; the flagelluni testaceous beneath. 

 Thorax shining ; the tegulse testaceous ; the wings hyaline, iri- 

 descent, the nervures pale testaceous ; the legs have a glitter- 

 ing white pubescence, that on the tarsi beneath pale fulvous. 

 Abdomen very glossy at the base, the apical margins of the 

 segments rufo-piceous, and having a scattered pubescence 

 towards the apex ; sometimes a little white pubescence at the 

 lateral basal margins of the second and third segments. B.M, 



Male. — Head and thorax bright green, the apex of the clypeus, 

 labrum and mandibles pale yellow ; the flagellum pale fulvous 

 beneath. Thorax : the tegulse rufo-piceous; the wings hyaline, 

 splendidly iridescent; all the tarsi and the base of the tibise pale 

 yellow, the claws ferruginous. Abdomen black, elongate-ovate, 

 thinly covered with short griseous pubescence ; the apical 

 margins of the two basal segments depressed, B.M. 



This species is not so abundant as the two preceding, but is 

 widely distributed ; the female is so like to that of ceneus, that it 

 becomes difficult to point out a distinctive difference ; the form 

 of the head is perhaps the best and most obvious difference, it is 

 much rounder, and the clypeus scarcely produced ; the disk of 

 the thorax is more sti'ongly and not so closely punctured; 

 the males are easily distinguished by the colouring of the tarsi. 

 I possess specimens taken " in coitu,^' or I could not have felt 

 certain of the sexes, although I had strong suspicions pre- 

 viously. These small species of Halicti are difficult to separate, 

 and require attentive study and observation. 



Div. III. — Entirely black j the first recurrent nervure uniting 



with the second transverse cubital nervure, 



I . h 



19. Halictus longuliis. 



H, niger, pubescentia rufo-testacea, abdomine elongato. 

 Female. Length 4 lines. — Black, head and thorax very closely 



