All these insects are usually accompanied by their partners in their flight, and their amorous intercourse takes place upon the wing. ------- Genus 12. SAROPODA, _Latreille_. (Plate VII. fig. 2 ♂♀.) APIS ** _d_, 2, a, Kirby. _Gen. Char._: HEAD transverse, as wide as the thorax, very pubescent; _ocelli_ placed in a triangle, the anterior one low towards the face; _vertex_ slightly concave; _antennæ_ short, filiform, basal joint of flagellum globose, the second joint subclavate and the longest, the rest short and equal; _face_ flattish, short; _clypeus_ forming an obtuse triangle, slightly convex; _labrum_ quadrate, with the angles rounded; _mandibles_ obtusely bidentate; _cibarial apparatus_ long; _tongue_ very long and slender, but gradually expanding towards half its length and then as gradually tapering to the extremity and terminating in a small knob, its sides throughout being fimbriated with short delicate down; _paraglossæ_ one-third its length, membranous, very delicate, and tapering to a point; _labial palpi_ slender, membranous, the joints conterminous, the basal joint more than half the length of the tongue, the remainder short, the second the longest of these three, and all tapering to the pointed apical one; _labium_ scarcely one-third as long as the tongue, rather broad, bifid at its inosculation; _maxillæ_ nearly as long as the tongue, gradually diminishing from its basal sinus to a point at its extremity; _maxillary palpi_ four-jointed, about one-third the length of the maxillæ, the basal joint short, robust, the second tapering from its base to the third joint, which is rather shorter and subclavate, the terminal joint slender. THORAX very pubescent, rendering its divisions inconspicuous; _scutellum_ and _post-scutellum_ lunulate and convex; _metathorax_ truncated; _wings_ as in _Anthophora_, with three marginal cells closed, the second forming a truncated triangle, and receiving the first recurrent nervure near its centre, the third bulging outwardly and receiving the second recurrent nervure at its extremity; _legs_ very setose, especially the posterior tibiæ externally, and their plantæ both externally and internally, but the setæ are longer on the exterior of the joint, the second joint of these tarsi inserted beneath, and before the termination of their plantæ, the terminal joint longer than the two preceding; _claws_ bifid, the inner tooth distant from the apex. ABDOMEN subovate, very convex, truncated at its base, where it is densely pubescent, the fifth segment fimbriated with stiff setæ, and the terminal segment having a central triangular plate with rigid setæ at its sides. The MALE scarcely differs, excepting in the characteristic sexual disparities of slightly longer antennæ, and considerably longer intermediate tarsi, whose apical joint is very clavate. NATIVE SPECIES.