Insects, 261 



are two females, judging from the size and shape of the abdomen ; in other respects 

 they resemble the males. I may add that at the same time and place I caught Acos- 

 metia rufula in tolerable abundance, and a few specimens of Pyralis cribralis. — Henry 

 F. Farr ; Lower Close ^ Norwich, Juhj 24, 1843. 



Description of a New British Bee. By Fredk. Smith, Esq. 



I HAVE much pleasure in recording in * The Zoologist ' the capture 

 of a new species of the genus Stelis of Panzer, — the Apis punctulatis- 

 sima and A. phaeoptera of Kirby being the only species previously 

 noticed as Biitish. Two specimens of this new species were cap- 

 tured in a garden at Blackwater, in Hampshire, in company with the 

 rare Osmia leucomelana, upon which they are probably parasitical. 

 I have observed the Stelis phaeoptera three or four successive seasons, 

 in the month of June, entering the nests of Osmia hirta, in an old 

 post in the Battersea fields ; on one occasion I observed a female Os- 

 mia busily engaged in excavating her cylindrical burrow ; I left her 

 undisturbed, and, on returning to the spot an hour or two afterwards, 

 I saw a female Stelis running about the post, much after the manner 

 in which ichneumons may be observed ; at length she stopped at the 

 entrance of the new burrow commenced by the Osmia ; she entered, 

 but quickly retreated and flew off*. I then inserted a straw, expecting 

 to find the Osmia still engaged at her laborious task, but that was not 

 the case ; she had, however, excavated to the depth of about two 

 inches : subsequently the Stelis returned, entered the burrow, and 

 passed in and out three or four times, as if to satisfy herself whether 

 a proper nidus was prepared for her eggs or not. I captured the 

 insect, which proved to be a female. I cannot of course be certain 

 that this was identical with the bee which I first observed. 



I have searched diligently amongst foreign collections, as well as 

 throughjworks, but can find neither description nor specimen agreeing 

 with the new species. I therefore propose describing it as new. 



Stelis octomaculata (female, length 3 lines). Head black, deeply 

 punctured, face with scattered silvery hairs : thorax black, more 

 coarsely punctured than the head : the tegulae and nervures of the 

 wings black : wings clouded with a broad dark margin on the 

 outer edge : all the legs black, with short, scattered, silvery hairs, more 

 dense on the coxae and femora ; all the tarsi ferruginous : abdomen 

 black, coarsely punctured above, finely so beneath ; the first segment 

 has two ovate cream-coloured spots, placed laterally; the second, 

 third and fourth have oblong streaks of the same colour (acute at the 



