Insects. 1015 



thorax, shining and minutely punctured. Mandibles, and antennae 

 beneath, ferruginous. Thorax shining and minutely punctured. The 

 wings brilliantly prismatic. Legs piceous; the anterior tibiae in front, 

 the tips of the knees, and the tarsi, ferruginous. Abdomen red, the 

 fourth, fifth and sixth segments, and sometimes the margin of the third, 

 black. 



Male. — Length 2 J lines. Black. Head as wide as the thorax, ve- 

 ry finely punctured. The antennae piceous beneath. Thorax shin- 

 ing and finely punctured. The wings brilliantly prismatic. Anterior 

 tibiae in front, and all the tarsi, pale ferruginous. The abdomen red, 

 the base and apex black, sometimes nearly all black, with slight in- 

 dications of red, or with a black fascia dividing the red. 



The male of this minute species is the var & of Kirby. 



Sp. 6. Sphecodes divisus. 

 Melitta divisa, Kirby's Mon. 



Female. — 2j — 3 lines. Black. Head shining and finely punctured, 

 as wide as the thorax. Mandibles ferruginous at their tips. Anten- 

 nae slightly piceous beneath. Thorax shining, not very closely punc- 

 tured. The wings slightly fuscous, iridescent. Legs black, with the 

 tips of the tarsi ferruginous. Abdomen red, the base and three apical 

 segments black. 



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

 rax. The face covered with silvery pubescence. Antennae slightly 

 piceous beneath. Thorax not shining, very finely punctured. The 

 wings iridescent and slightly fuscous. Anterior tibiae in front, and all 

 the tarsi, ferruginous. Abdomen red, oval, the base and apex black, 

 or nearly entirely black, the margins narrowly edged with piceous. 



The female of this species closely resembles the same sex of Geof- 

 froyellus, and is somewhat difficult to separate. The head is rather 

 more subquadrate, and the base as well as the apex of the abdomen 

 is usually more or less black. The male is easily separated ; the head 

 is wider than the thorax, and the latter is so minutely and closely 

 punctured as to have an opaque appearance. Frederick Smith. 



Newington Butts, June 18, 1845. 



Various Duration of Insect Life in Spirits. Some tribes of Coleoptera, generally 

 the predaceous races, and particularly the Brachelytra, die almost immediately in spi- 

 rits. I have known Necrophorus vespillo killed by three minutes' immersion. The 

 herbivorous tribes are much more tenacious of life ; and some of the Rhynchophora, 

 particularly of the genera Apion and Calandra, will revive after several days. How 

 is this explained ? — F. Holme. 



