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Cerceris Antoniæ—H. Fab.
Length, 16 to 18 millimetres.[1] Black, thickly and deeply spotted. Shield, raised like a nose, that is to say, forming a convex projection, broad at the base, pointed at the tip and resembling one half of a cone divided lengthwise. Prominent crest between the antennæ. A yellow streak above the crest, yellow cheeks and a large yellow spot behind each eye. Yellow shield, with black dot. Mandibles, iron-yellow, with black tips. First four or five joints of the antennæ, iron-yellow; the rest brown.
Two dots on the prothorax, the wing-scales and the postscutellum yellow. First segment of the abdomen has two round spots. The next four segments have on their hinder edge [[380]]a yellow band cut deeply into the form of a triangle, or even broken right off; and this is more noticeable in the less distant segments.
Under-part of the body, black. Legs, iron-yellow all through. Wings, slightly bronzed at the tip.
The above is a description of the female. The male is unknown to me.
In colouring, this species approaches Cerceris labiata, from which it differs more particularly by the shape of the shield and by its size, which is much larger. Observed near Avignon in July.
I dedicate this species to my daughter Antonia, whose assistance has often been of great value to me in my entomological researches.