Insects. 1013 



All the tarsi ferruginous. The wings slightly fuscous. The abdomen 

 shining red, the segments slightly constricted and finely punctured at 

 their base, the sixth segment black, and sometimes the fifth is more 

 or less so. 



Male. — Length 3 — 3f lines. Black. Head the same width as the 

 thorax, punctured as in the female. Face clothed with silvery hair. 

 The antennae not so long as the head and thorax, the latter punctured 

 as in the female. Wings slightly fuscous. The abdomen shining red, 

 margin of the third and the rest of the apical segments black. 



This is the true Nomada gibba of Fabricius, as I found on compar- 

 ing it with a specimen in the Banksian cabinet. It is easily distin- 

 guished from the following species, the form and comparative size of 

 the head being very different. The wings are only slightly fuscous, 

 and the base of the abdomen is not black, as in that species. 



Sp. 2. Sphecodes Sphecoides. 



Melitta Sphecoides, Kirby's Mon. 



Fig. 3, 4. 



Female. — Length 4— 4j lines. Black. Head wider than the tho- 

 rax, deeply and closely punctured. Thorax shining, with deep scat- 

 tered punctures. The wings fuscous, with a darker cloud at the apical 

 margins. Abdomen shining red, the extreme base, or sometimes the 

 basal half of the first segment black, the margin of the fourth, and the 

 fifth and sixth segments, black ; the two or three basal segments are 

 slightly constricted. 



Male.— Length, 2 J — 3j lines. Black. Head wider than the tho- 

 rax, deeply and closely punctured. Face clothed with silvery hair. 

 Antennae longer than the head and thorax. The thorax shining, with 

 deep scattered punctures. The wings slightly fuscous, with a darker 

 cloud at their apical margins. Abdomen red, black at the base and 

 apex, sometimes with only a narrow red fascia, or with a black fascia 

 in the middle of the red. 



This species is easily distinguished from the preceding by the size 

 of its head and dark wings. The male is the monilicornis of Kirby. 

 I have frequently taken the sexes together in numbers, where not a 

 specimen of gibbus occurred, and vice versa. It is abundant about 

 London. 



The piceus of Kirby is a variety of this species, the abdomen being 

 nigro-piceous at the base and apex, with a piceous stain between. 



