Gen. Trypeta, Meigen.
15. Trypeta roripennis, n. s. Fœm. Fusca; capite nigro, facie alba; antennis nigris rufo-fasciatis; thorace vittis quatuor canis; abdominis segmentis testaceo marginatis; pedibus nigris, tarsis halteribusque testaceis; alis nigris, punctis plurimis albis.
Female. Brown. Head black; face white; antennæ black, third joint red, linear, rather long, black towards the tip; arista plumose; thorax with four hoary stripes; abdominal segments with testaceous hind borders; legs black, tarsi testaceous; wings black, with very numerous white points, a few of which are rather larger than the others; discal transverse vein straight, parted by less than its length from the border, and by more than twice its length from the præbrachial transverse; halteres testaceous. Length of the body 2 lines; of the wings 4 lines.
Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects collected by Mr. A. R. Wallace at the Islands of Aru and Key. By Frederick Smith, Esq., Assistant in the Zoological Department, British Museum. Communicated by W. W. Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., V.P.L.S.
[Read December 3rd, 1858.]
This Collection of Hymenoptera is the most important contribution which has been made to the Aculeata through the exertions of Mr. Wallace; in point of geographical distribution, it adds much to our knowledge. In the Aru, Key, and neighbouring islands, we meet with the extreme range of the Australian insect-fauna; and as might be expected, it is found amongst the Vespidious Group, and in one or two instances in the Formicidæ. The latter, being frequently conveyed from one island to another, can perhaps scarcely be considered indicative of natural geographical distribution. Of the forty-six species of the Formicidous Group, only six were previously known to science. Of the genus Podomyrma here established, one species only, from Adelaide, was previously known; it is one of the most distinct and remarkable genera in the family. The Pompilidæ are species of great beauty, some closely resembling those of Australia in the banding and maculation of their wings; amongst the Vespidæ will be found some of the most elegant and beautiful forms in the whole of that protean family of Hymenoptera.
Fam. ANDRENIDÆ.
Gen. Prosopis.
1. Prosopis malachisis. P. nigro-cæruleo-viridis, nitida et delicatulè punctata; alis hyalinis.