OCR Text |
Show 552 MR. W. F. KIRBY ON THE [DeC 4, yellow stripe on each side ; postscutellum yellow ; metathorax a broad curved yellow stripe on each side. Abdomen with the first segment yellow above, except in front, a black line interrupted behind on the median line above; second segment yellow above except at the base, and on a wide conical space which extends to three quarters of its length ; on the hinder edge of the segment the yellow colour is continued on the lower surface, but does not form a complete ring, being widely interrupted in the middle; the third segment bordered with yellow behind on the upper surface. Wiugs dirty hyaline, smoky along the costa and in the radial cell. Allied to 0. conjiuentus, Smith, from Sumatra, but differing much in colour from any described species. No particulars of capture. VESPID-E. POLISTES BALDER, Sp. n. Exp. al. 28 millim.; long. corp. 13 millim. Ochreous yellow, with linear black markings. Head with a black line just above the antennae, the ends of which run upwards on each side and slightly diverge; below the antennae the clypeal suture is black, and this curve is sometimes connected with tbe upper one by a black line on each side within the antennae; a black line crosses the head just behind the ocelli, over which extends a continuous black spot; the tips of the mandibles are also black, as well as the basal parts of the head and prothorax. Thorax with all the sutures more or less black, sometimes not continuously ; the central black line is frequently incomplete behind. Pectus and pleura black, the latter marked with four or five large and small yellow spots. Scutellum, postscutellum, and metathorax yellow; the sutures rather broadly black; groove of the metathorax black. Legs almost entirely yellow or reddish yellow ; the trochanters and the extreme tips of the coxae and bases of the femora black. Abdomen inclining to reddish yellow, but with no distinct markings, except a black spot above at the base of the 1st segment and the suture between the 1st and 2nd segments, which is generally black. Wings smoky hyaline, with brown nervures; costal nervure and costal region yellowish. Allied to P. hebraeus, but smaller and differently coloured. The first segment of the abdomen, too, appears to be a little longer and more gradually widened. Two nests accompanied these Wasps. They are round, and the smaller one is considerably raised in the middle. The upper surface is grey ; the outer portion is inky black towards the base, and whitish on the sides above. One of the Wasps was taken on October 1 at Flying-Fish Cove; a nest, with eggs, larvae, and cocoons, was found on the underside of a branch at the same place on October 2; and another nest, with Wasps flying round it, on October 5, |