18 ASTDRE^ID^. 



Schenck, Nass. Bien. 306. 



Sichel, Ami. Soc. Ent. Fr. (1865) 413. 



Thorns. Opusc. Ent. 98 ; Hym. Scand, ii. 153. 

 Sphex gibba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 946 ; et Cab. Mus. Linn. Soc. 

 Noinada gibba, Bossi, Faun. Etrus. ii. 63. 



Fab. Ent. Syst. ii. 212. 

 Melitta spkecoides, Kirby, Mon. Apum Angl. ii. 46 $ • 

 Melitta monilicomis, Kirby, lib. cit. ii. 47, tab. 15. fig. 6 tf . 

 Melitta picea, Kirby, lib. cit. ii. 48 $ . 

 Spliecodes sphecoides, Smith, Zool. iii. 1013. fig. 3 $ , fig. 4 $ . 



Female. Length 4— 4j Hues. — Head and thorax black, the head a 

 little wider than the thorax, strongly and closely punctured, the 

 clypeus very coarsely so ; the thorax smooth, shining, and having 

 scattered deep punctures ; the base of the metathorax coarsely ru- 

 gose ; the tegulae rufo-piceous at their outer margins, the nervures 

 f usco-ferruginous, the stigma ferruginous ; the wings fuscous, their 

 apical margins having a darker cloud. Abdomen shining red ; the 

 first segment more or less black at its base, the three apical seg- 

 ments black, sometimes the apical margin of the second segment 

 black ; this sex, in rare instances, has the legs red. B.M. 



Var. a. The abdomen with the apex only slightly fuscous. 



Male. Length 3-4 lines. — Black ; the head rather wider than the 

 thorax, the face covered with silvery white pubescence ; the an- 

 tennae as long as the head and thorax, submoniliform ; thorax and 

 wings as in the female ; the second, third, and basal margin of the 

 first segment red ; the apical margin of the second usually more or 

 less black ; or the second and third segments having each a central 

 black band, sometimes only one of these bands present. The meta- 

 thorax coarsely rugose, not having a distinctly enclosed space at 

 its base. B.M, 



Yar. /3. Abdomen entirely black. 



This is the true S. gibba of Linnaeus ; it is very distinct from the 

 Nomada gibba of Fabricius, and may be distinguished by its shining 

 thorax, with large scattered punctures ; the N. gibba of Fabricius has 

 the thorax closely punctured and has hyaline wings. The species 

 is common in July and August, frequenting thistle-heads and the 

 flowers of the ragwort. The black varieties of the male were taken 

 at Lowestoft. 



2. Sphecodes rufiventris. 

 S. ater ; abdomine ferrugineo, apice nigro. 



Sphecodes rufiventris, Wesm. Obs. Gen. Sphec. 8. 



Sichel, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. (1865) 413. 



Smith, Entomol, (1867) 336. 



Schenck, Nass. Bien. 302. 

 Apis gibba, Christ. Hym. 183, tab. 15. f. 3. 

 Nomada gibba, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 348 $ ! ^ Cab. Mus. Dom. 



Banks. 

 Melitta gibba, Kirby, Mon. Apum Angl, ii. 42. 



