CCELIOXYS. 
265 
quality of the pollen with which it supplies its own nest, 
to be that which is best adapted for the nurture of their 
young. It is not likely that we shall very speedily lift 
the veil from these mysteries, but they are suggestive of 
observation which in seeking one thing may fall upon 
another equally interesting. 
I have usually caught these insects settled upon the 
leaves of shrubs, especially of fruit bushes, particularly 
that of the black currant, upon which, in a favourable lo¬ 
cality, many bees, as well as numerous small fossorial 
Hymenoptera may be found in genial weather. I have 
never caught them upon flowers, nor do I know what 
flowers they frequent. The end of May, if warm, and 
throughout June, they are usually found most abun¬ 
dantly. 
Genus 18. CCELIOXYS, Latreille. 
(Plate XII. fig. Id?-) 
Aprs c 1 a, Kirby. 
Gen. Char.: Body subglabrous. Head transverse, 
concave posteriorly to fit the anterior portion of the 
thorax; ocelli in a triangle on the vertex; antemice fili¬ 
form, short, subgeniculated, the basal joint of the flagel¬ 
lum globose, the second subclavate, and all from the 
second subequal, the terminal joint compressed late¬ 
rally ; face flat, very pubescent; clypeus ovate, concavely 
truncated in front, its surface convex; labrum oblong, 
with its sides parallel, but with lateral processes at its 
articulation ; mandibles broad, quadridentate; cibarial 
apparatus long, the tongue very long, nearly three times 
the length of the labium, linear but slightly inflated in 
the centre, and thence tapering to its extremity, and 
