192 
BRITISH BEES. 
maxillary palpi rather longer than the maxillae, with 
six joints, the basal joint robust and slightly constricted 
in the middle, the third joint linear and the longest, the 
remainder gradually decreasing in length and substance. 
Thorax subquadrate; prothorax transverse, linear, 
angulated at the sides; mesothorax with its bosses pro¬ 
tuberant ; scutellum and post-scutellum semilunulate; 
metathorax abruptly truncate, and longitudinally cari- 
nated in the centre; wings with two submarginal cells, 
a third slightly indicated, the first recurrent nervure 
springing from the extreme apex of the first submarginal 
cell, closely to the first transverso-cubital nervure, and 
the second closely before the termination of the second 
submarginal cell; stigma of the wing large and distinct; 
legs wholly destitute of polliniferous hair, the terminal 
joint of the tarsus as long as the two preceding; claws 
bifid; Abdomen subtruncate at the base, subconical 
with a downward bias. 
The male differs in having the mandibles distinctly 
bidentate, the external tooth acute ; the antennae are 
very slightly longer and more curved, and their colouring 
is more intense and more widely distributed. These 
insects are glabrous, generally intensely black, dull on 
the head and thorax, but shining on the abdomen, and 
are more or less thickly punctured, and they are usually 
gaily marked with yellow, citron, or red, especially on 
the face, thorax, and legs. 
NATIVE SPECIES. 
1. annulatus , Fab., $ $ . 2^-3 lines. 
annulatus, Kirby. 
2. dilatata, Kirby, J. 3 lines. (Plate I. fig. 2$.) 
Hylaeus dilatatus, Curtis. 
