412 
THE SUDAN 
females. At the same flowers, both near the tennis ground and in 
the public garden, there was a number of a much smaller Crocisa, 
of which I took six males and a female, this is very probably 
undescribed. Then there were quite a number of little Bees, includ¬ 
ing Colletes nanus , Friese, a Biskra insect of which two of each sex 
were taken, some of them at Aerva near Burri, others towards 
Mogran; a single male of Coelioxys decipiens, Spin., was captured; it 
also occurs at Biskra. I also sent home four males and two females 
of an Osmia , allied to lativentris, Friese, but apparently distinct. Of 
Nomia I took but a solitary male edentata , Moraw., but found 
Nomioides more plentiful, securing besides four females of the tiny 
black, yellow-banded N. rotundiceps , HandL, a male of N. excellens , 
Saunders (originally described from Biskra specimens); this was 
taken at flowers of Calotropis on the desert near the rifle ranges; 
there occurred also a solitary female of what is either N. turanica, 
Moraw., or an undescribed form. 
Among those gem-like creatures, the Chrysididae , I was successful 
in getting some interesting insects, although I did not find them 
numerous. The brilliant but widely distributed Stilhum splendidum 
was the commonest, and I brought home twelve, some of them of the 
var. amethystinum. Unfortunately, however, Ghrysis nasuta , Mocsary, 
is so similar to Stilhum in size and general appearance that I doubtless 
confused the two, and brought home but two males and two females. 
I call this unfortunate, since it appears that Mocsary in 1902 described 
the male only, from Salisbury, Bhodesia; he has seen my specimens 
and believes them to be the two sexes of nasuta. Chrysis pallidicornis. 
Spin., was the commonest of the genus, and I secured seven specimens. 
It is variable in the colour of its tail, which may be red, reddish, or 
green (var. clitoris , Mocs.). Of C. fasciolata, Klug, I took two; of the 
rainbow-coloured C. aurifascia, Brulle, one; the last-named is, 
I am informed, a rarity, but it extends as far as the Cape. Of the 
common Egyptian Hedychridium aheneum , Dahlb., I took but one. 
The genus Parnopes was represented by a male and two females of 
a green and red species which both Mr. Morice and M. du Buysson 
are agreed is new; it has been described as Parnopes nilotica, Morice 
in MS., sp. nov. Nearly all these Chrysids, but not the Stilhum, 
were obtained by sweeping Aerva . The occurrence of intensely 
brilliant, blue-green metallic colouring in such widely separated 
genera as Chrysis, Ampulex, and Euglossa is a remarkable fact which 
appears to be quite unexplained. 
Insects of other Orders were few in number, thus but a single 
species of Bug was met with, Lygaeus militaris, Fabr., taken among 
