1014 Insects. 



Sp. 3. Sphecodes pellucidus, Smith. 



Female. — 'Length, 3 — 3f lines. Black. Head not wider than the 

 thorax, closely punctured. Thorax closely punctured. The wings 

 slightly fuscous, their margins palest. Abdomen shining red, the 

 three apical segments black, sometimes the margin of the third black. 



Male. — Length 3j — 4 lines. Black. The head finely and closely 

 punctured, the same width as the thorax. Face clothed with silvery 

 hair. The thorax deeply and closely punctured, with a silvery pubes- 

 cence at the sides, beneath, and on the tip. Claws ferruginous. The 

 wings hyaline. Abdomen red, the base and four apical segments 

 black, sometimes an oblong patch or a fascia at the base of the second 

 segment. 



This distinct species I have only taken at Hampstead, and in that 

 neighbourhood, where it is abundant. The female most closely re- 

 sembles gibba, but it is uniformly smaller, and the wings are always 

 lightest at their margins ; its male is at once known by its hyaline 

 wings, and by having the base as well as the apex of the abdomen 

 black, and its shorter antennae and smaller head separate it from the 

 male of Sphecoides. This species is also much more pubescent than 

 the others of the genus, particularly the male. 



Sp. 5. Sphecodes subquadratus, Smith. 

 Fig. 5. 



Female. — Length 4 — 4j lines. Black. Head subquadrate, closely 

 punctured. Thorax deeply but not very closely punctured. Wings 

 slightly fuscous, with a darker cloud on their apical margin. Tarsi 

 ferruginous. Abdomen red, the apical segments black. 



Male. — Length 3 — 4 lines. Black. Head subquadrate, finely 

 punctured. The face with a shining silvery pubescence. Antennae 

 nearly as long as the head and thorax, the latter finely punctured. 

 Tarsi ferruginous. Abdomen red, the margin of the third and the rest 

 of the apical segments black. 



The subquadrate form of the head of this species at once distin- 

 guishes it ; in other respects it closely resembles gibbus. It is not so 

 common as gibbus, at least in the neighbourhood of London, but still 

 is by no means scarce. I took my specimens at Charlton, in the 

 sand-pits. 



Sp. 5. Sphecodes Geoffroyellus. 

 Melitla Geoffroyella, Kirby's Mon. 

 Female. — Length, 2j lines. Black. Head the same width as the 



