176 apid^:. 



6. Megachile argentata. 



M. pallide pubescens; abdomine subtus argenteo villosulo, segmentis 

 supra marginibus pallido fasciatis. 



Megachile argentata, Latr. Gen. Crust, et Ins. iv. 166. 



St. -Far g. Hym. ii. 343 <$ $ . 



Spin. Ins. Liyur. i. 140. 



Lucas, Expl. Sc. Alger, iii. 196. 



Smith, Bees Great Brit. 179. 



Schenck, Nass. Bien. 331. 



Thorns. Hym. Scand. ii. 228. 

 Apis argentata, Fabr. Fnt. Syst. ii. 336. 

 Anthophora argentata, Fabr. Syst. Piez. 377. 

 Apis albiventris, Fanz. Faun. Germ. 56. 19. 

 Megachile albiventris, Smith, Zool. ii. 696. 

 Megachile leachella, Curtis, Brit. Fnt. v. 219. 



Female. Length 3^-4| lines. — Black ; head as wide as the thorax ; 

 the front with dense pale fulvous pubescence, sparing on the 

 clypeus, on the cheeks it is cinereous. Thorax : the pubescence on 

 the mesothorax is short and thin, but more dense at the sides and 

 pale fulvous ; beneath and on the legs it is cinereous ; wings hya- 

 line, with their apical margins slightly clouded. Abdomen cordate, 

 the apical margins of the segments with narrow pale fasciae, the 

 sixth with two pale pubescent spots ; beneath, densely clothed with 

 silvery white pubescence. B.M. 



Male. Length 3^-4 lines. — Head wider than the thorax, the pubes- 

 cence above fulvous, beneath and on the legs it is cinereous ; the 

 apical half of the anterior femora yellowish in front, and the ante- 

 rior coxae with a blunt tooth ; wings as in the female. Abdomen 

 short and obtuse at the apex, towards which it is somewhat 

 narrowed ; all the segments.with narrow pale marginal fasciae, the 

 apical segment clothed with it and having its margin denticulate ; 

 the margin of the seventh segment entire. 



This little bee is local, but in some situations abundant, particu- 

 larly so on the sandhills at Deal, at Littlehampton, and in White- 

 sand Bay, at the Land's End. It also occurs at Southend, Wey- 

 bridge, and at Bnrnham, Somerset. Its flight is as rapid as that of 

 Saropoda bimaculata, and it also makes a similar piping hum. It is 

 found in June, July, and August, and often frequents Echium vulgare, 

 and is also partial to the hare's-foot trefoil. 



The specimens described are in the finest condition, taken on their 

 first appearance. They are frequently found entirely bleached to a 

 hoary pubescence, and are usually found with the fulvous tinge more 

 or less faded. This species is sometimes mistaken for the poppy- 

 bee, Osmia pap>averis. 



