12 ANDRENIDJE. 



mon. I omit St.-Fargeau's quotation in consequence of his confused 

 and unwarranted assumption of three of Kirby's species being 

 simply varieties of P. signata. Dr. Sichel believed all the British 

 species to be varieties of P. bifasciata, a very distinct species, very 

 rare in this country. P. signata frequently constructs its cells in 

 the crevices of old walls, at another time it excavates tunnels in 

 the pith of dead bramble -sticks. Like all the species of the genus, 

 it frequents, in preference to all other plants, the mignonette {Reseda 

 lutea). 



6. Prosopis hyalinata. 



P. atra, alis hyalinis, tibiis flavo annulatis. 



Prosopis hyalinata, Smith, Bees Great Brit. 13 tf £ . 

 Hylseus hyalinatus, Smith, Trans. Fnt. Soc. Bond. iv. 33 ; Zool. vi. 

 2206. 



Female. Length 2-3 lines. — Black ; head elongate as in " P. com- 

 munis ;" the nagellum, except one or two of the basal joints, fulvous 

 beneath ; the face with an angular yellow spot on each side, varying 

 in size, sometimes almost obsolete. Thorax rotundate, closely 

 punctured ; a line on each side of the collar, the tubercles behind, 

 and the tegulae in front white; the tibiae white at their base ; the 

 wings clear hyaline and splendidly iridescent, the nervures black. 

 Abdomen ovate, smooth, and shining ; the apical margin of the 

 basal segment with a little white pubescence laterally ; this is fre- 

 quently obliterated. B.M. 



Male. Length 2-2| lines. — The face yellowish white ; the nagellum, 

 except two or three of the basal segments, fulvous beneath ; the 

 anterior tibiae in front and the intermediate pair at their extreme 

 base yellow, the posterior pair broadly annulated with yellow at 

 their base ; the four posterior tarsi have their basal joint yellowish 

 white. Abdomen smooth and shining, with a little white pubes- 

 cence on the apical margin of the basal segment laterally ; a fine 

 silky pile on the sides and apex of the abdomen. B.M. 



This species closely resembles P. communis, particularly in the 

 female ; but the thorax is rounder and the markings whiter ; the 

 male is readily distinguished. It is very abundant in some localities 

 in July and the beginning of August; it commonly frequents the 

 flowers of the bramble, on which I have observed it at Yentnor and 

 in Sandown Bay, also at Deal, Walmer, and Folkestone. P. signata 

 is less common than this species. 



7. Prosopis varipes. 



P. atra, tibiis flavis nigro annulatis, fronte trimaculata. 



Prosopis varipes, Smith, Cat. Hym. Ins. in Coll. Brit. Mus. pt. i. 12 

 $ 2 '•> B ees Great Brit. 14. 



Female. Length 1| line. — Black ; head and thorax closely punc- 



