136 APID^. 



frequently bred. The Melectce are frequently infested by the larvae 

 of Meloe ; on one occasion M. armata was found close to burrows of 

 AnthopTwra, so covered with these larvae that the bee was com- 

 pletely coated over with them and unable to take flight. It is quite 

 probable that the larvae of the beetle are as often carried into the 

 burrows by the parasite as by the working bee. 



1. Melecta luctuosa. 



M. aterrima, albido villosa, abdominis segmentis utrinque puncto 

 subquadrato niveo ornatis. 



Melecta luctuosa, Smith, Bees Great Brit. 155 $ 2 • 



Schenck, Nass. Bien. 172. 



Thorns. Hym. Scand. ii. 208. 

 Apis luctuosa, Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat. iv. 9. 



Schrank, Lis. Austr. 404. 



JRossi, Faun. Etrus. ii. 105. 

 Apis truncata, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 337. 



Panz. Faun. Germ. 35. 23 $ • 

 Melecta punctata, Latr. Hist. Nat. Ins. xiv. 48. 



Spin. Ins. Ligur. i. 153. 



Brulle, Exped. Sc. de Moree, 342. 



Blanch. Hist. Nat. Ins. 411. 



St.-Farg. Hym. ii. 441. 

 Symmorpha punctata, Klug, Ulig. Mag. vi. 227. 

 Melecta atropos, Newm. Ent. Mag. ii. 514 c? • 

 Melecta lachesis, Newm. lib. cit. 514 2 . 



Female. Length 5-6 lines. — Jet-black, shining ; the pubescence 

 snow-white, and the margin of the vertex fringed with white. 

 Thorax clothed before the insertion of the wings with white pu- 

 bescence, behind with black ; a spot beneath the wings and another 

 behind their insertion of white pubescence; a white pubescent spot 

 at the base of all the tibiae above and another on the apical joint of 

 the posterior tarsi ; the wings f us co-hyaline, their nervures black. 

 Abdomen — a tuft of white pubescence on each side of the basal seg- 

 ment above, and a quadrate spot on each side of the three follow- 

 ing. B.M. 



Male. — This sex only differs in having a white fringe on the anterior 

 and intermediate femora, and two additional white spots on the fifth 

 abdominal segment. B.M. 



This bee is parasitic on Anthopliora retusa ; it is not usually found 

 so early in the season as the Melecta armata. I have never found it 

 with A. acervorum. It is not uncommon on Hampstead Heath in 

 May, but is a local insect. Dr. Nylander has examined the Pabri- 

 cian type in the Museum at Stockholm, and informs us that it is 

 identical with this species. 



