Hymenoptera Orientalis. 431 



Hymenoptera Orientalis ; or Contributions to a know- 

 ledge of the Hymenoptera of the Oriental Zoological 

 Region. By P. Cameron. Communicated by John 

 Boyd. 



Received May isty i8gi. 

 Part III. 



POMPILID^. 



I have experienced considerable difficulty in identifying 

 the numerous species of this large family, described by the 

 late Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum. This is more 

 particularly the case with the black species, and with those 

 related to Salius flavus, Fab. These latter I find to be 

 especially puzzling, from the fact that the same type of 

 colouration is found in two of the sections of Salius and in 

 Pompilius. I have myself, with the aid of numerous 

 examples, come to definite conclusions as to the limits of 

 the species with those of the Jlavus -co\o\xr3X\on ; but I am 

 in so much difficulty about the nomenclature, that I have 

 decided to leave them over until I have had an opportunity 

 of examining Smith's types. I am the more inclined to do 

 so from finding in Mr. Rothney's collection a Fompilus^ and 

 a Salius named dorsalis^ Lep., by Mr. Smith. 



As regards the genera, I have adopted them as defined 

 by Kohl in his paper " Die Guttungen der Pompiliden " in 

 Verh. z.-b. Ges. Wien, 1884. 



The species of PompilidcB, as a rule, store their nests with 

 spiders ; but very little is known about the habits of the 

 Indian species. Major Bingham describes the nest of 

 Poinpilus bracatus as a " burrow in the ground at the foot 

 of a large fern," and he observed it provisioning its nest 

 A I 



