Chapter X · THE SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GENERA, WITH LISTS OF OUR NATIVE SPECIES AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS AND ECONOMY OF THE INSECTS, WITH INCIDENTAL OBSERVATIONS SUGGESTED BY THE SUBJECT.

I now proceed to the treatment and description of the genera severally, and the enumeration of the species in due scientific consecutive order.

The generic names adopted are those of the first describers of the genera; but the generic characters given by them could not be employed, they having been usually framed to suit special purposes.

All the generic characters introduced into this work are therefore quite original, and have been made from a very careful autoptical examination of the insects themselves.

The synonymy added to the lists of species is limited to the species described in Mr. Kirby’s work, where he is not the first describer, or to those of such other English works wherein the species may have been described in ignorance of its previous registration.

The observations appended, wherein the habits of the insects are described, will be found to embrace discursive 185subjects suggested by the matter in hand, and here a dry didactic style has been purposely avoided, as in the majority of cases they record the personal experiences or notions of and hints from an old practical entomologist.

Class INSECTA METABOLIA, Leach.

Order HYMENOPTERA, Linnæus.

Division ACULEATA, Leach.

Antennæ in male with 13 joints, in female with 12. Abdomen in male with 7 segments, in female with 6.

Family MELLICOLLIGERÆ (Honey collectors), Shuck.

Subfamily 1. Andrenides (Subnormal Bees), Leach.

Syn. Genus Melitta, Kirby.

The maxillary palpi always six-jointed.

Section 1. With lacerate paraglossæ.

Subsection a. Linguæ emarginatæ (with emarginate tongues).

Syn. Obtusilingues, Westw.

Three submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 1. Colletes, Latreille.

(Plate I. fig. 1. ♂ ♀.)

Melitta * a, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, flattish; ocelli in an open triangle on the vertex; antennæ not geniculated, but slightly curved, filiform, short; joints, excepting the basal or scape, which is as long as five of the rest and slightly curved, nearly equal; face beneath and within the insertion of the antennæ, slightly protuberant, laterally flat or concave; clypeus convex, margined anteriorly, entire; labrum transverse, slightly produced in the centre in 186front, and the process rounded; mandibles obtuse, subbidentate; cibarial apparatus short; tongue deeply emarginate and bilobate, the lobes fringed with short setæ; paraglossæ half the length of the tongue, abruptly terminating and lacerate, and setose at the apex; labial palpi much shorter than the paraglossæ, four-jointed, the joints equal and each subclavate; labium about the same length as the tongue, its inosculation acutely angulated; maxillæ broad, lanceolate, the length of the tongue; maxillary palpi six-jointed, not so long as the maxillæ, the two basal joints the longest, the rest equal, short, and subclavate, the apical one rounded. Thorax subquadrate, very pubescent, the prothorax inconspicuous; scutellum transversely triangular or semilunate, postscutellum lunulate; metathorax abruptly truncated, and densely pubescent, especially laterally, for the conveyance of pollen; wings with three submarginal cells and a fourth slightly commenced, the second and third each receiving about their centre a recurrent nervure; legs all pubescent, the anterior and intermediate on their external surface chiefly, their plantæ also setose; the posterior coxæ, trochanters, femora, and tibiæ very hirsute, especially beneath, their tarsi entirely setose; claws bifid. Abdomen truncated at the base, subconical with a downward bias, the segments with bands of closely decumbent nap, and the surface of all more or less deeply or delicately punctured; the basal segment in the centre, beneath, with a longitudinal tuft of long hair.

The MALE differs in having the mandibles more distinctly bidentate, and in being less densely pubescent, especially upon the legs. In general aspect it is very like its female.

Note. The genus Cilissa has, superficially observed, 187much of the habit of Colletes, particularly in the male of Cilissa tricincta.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. succincta, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 3½-5½ lines.

succincta, Kirby.

fodiens, Curtis.

2. fodiens, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-4½ lines.

pallicincta, Kirby, ♀.

3. marginata, Linn., ♂ ♀. 3-4 lines.

4. Daviesiana, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-4½ lines.

(Plate I. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus is named from κολλήτης, one that plasters, in allusion to the habits of the insects, which will be described below. The female insects themselves have, at the first glance, very much the appearance of the working honey-bee, but they are considerably smaller, and, upon a very slight inspection, they are found to be exceedingly distinct. The respective males of the species are conspicuously smaller than their females, but their specific characteristics are very much alike, and there is some difficulty in separating and determining the species. One strong peculiarity, marking all of them, is that the segments of the abdomen are banded with decumbent, hoary or whitish down, in both sexes, and the determination of the species lies chiefly in the variations of these bands, and in the almost entire absence or conspicuous presence of minute punctures covering the segments. The females are very active collectors of pollen, and return from their excursions to obtain it, very heavily laden to their nests. I am not sure that all the species are not gregarious, to use this term in an acceptation 188somewhat different from its usual application, for here, and whenever used in entomology, it is meant to signify that they burrow collectively in large communities, forming what is called their metropolis, although each bores its independent and separate tube, wherein to deposit its store of eggs. The males, neither in these insects nor throughout the whole family of the bees, participate at all in the labours required for the preservation and nurture of the progeny, a duty that wholly devolves upon the maternal solicitude of the female,—these males having fulfilled their mission, which is not perhaps restricted to their sexual instinct, but may also be conducive to the grand operation of the family in the economy of nature, viz. the fertilization of the flowering plants, flit from blossom to blossom, and thus convey about the impregnating dust. They may also be often seen basking in the sunshine upon the leaves of shrubs, and thence they become lost or dispersed or the prey of their many enemies,—birds or insects, which are always on the alert in search of ravin.

The aspect selected by the females for their burrows, varies according to the species. Some choose a northern, and others a southern aspect; thus, the C. succincta seems to prefer the former, and the C. fodiens the latter, as does also the C. Daviesana; and where they burrow they congregate in enormous multitudes. The mortar interstices of an old wall, or a vertical sand-rock, which, from exposure, is sufficiently softened for their purpose, are equally agreeable to them; nor have they any objection to clay banks.

In these localities each individual perforates a cylindrical cavity, slightly larger than itself, and which it excavates to a depth of from eight to ten inches, or even 189sometimes less. Now comes into operation the use of the peculiarly-formed tongue with which nature has furnished them, and described above in the generic character. These cells are occupied by a succession of six, or eight, or even sometimes no more than two, three, or four cartridge- or thimble-like cases, in each of which is deposited a single egg with a sufficiency, taught the creature by its instinct, of a mingled paste of honey and pollen, for the full nurture and development of the vermicle that will proceed from the egg upon its being hatched, and wherein this larva, having consumed its provender, becomes transformed into the pupa, and by the continuance of nature’s mysterious operations, it speedily changes into the perfect insect. But the beauty with which these little cells are formed transcends conception. Each consists of a succession of layers of a membrane more delicate than the thinnest goldbeater’s skin, and more lustrous than the most beautiful satin. In glitter it most resembles the trail left by the snail, and is evidently, from all experiments made, a secretion of the insect elaborated from some special food it consumes, and by means of its bilobated tongue, which it uses as a trowel, it plasters with it the sides and the bottom of the tube it has excavated to the extent necessary for one division. As this secretion dries rapidly to a membrane it is succeeded by others, to the number of three or four, which may be separated from each other by careful manipulation. It then stores this cell, deposits the egg, and proceeds to close it with a covercle of double the number of membranes with which the sides are furnished, and continues with another in a similar manner, until it has completed sufficient to fill the tubular cavity, which, after closing the last case similarly to the rest, it 190stops up the orifice with grains of sand or earth. The food stored up is subject to fermentation, but this does not appear to be prejudicial to the larva, which first consumes the liquid portion of the store and then drills into the centre of the more solid part, and continues enlarging this little cylinder until increasing in growth by its consumption, it itself fills the cavity, and thus supplies the lateral stay or prop which, by means of the stored provender, was previously prevented from falling in. It has not been ascertained what number of eggs each insect lays, or whether it bores more than one tube, but it is presumable that it may do so, and possibly thus, from the numbers annually produced, for there are two broods in the year, colonies are thrown off which gradually form another metropolis somewhere in the vicinity, although the majority continue to occupy the old habitat from year to year. But the number of these insects is kept within due limits by the individual abundance of the parasites that infest them, and by the unsparing and unflinching attacks of earwigs, which consume all before them,—perfect insect, larva, and provender. The two most conspicuous parasites they have, are the beautiful little bee, Epeolus variegatus, the young of which is sustained, as in all bee-parasitism, by consuming the food stored for the sustenance of the young of the Colletes; and the other is the little dipterous Miltogramma punctata, whose larva, evolved from the egg deposited in the cell, feeds upon the larva of the Colletes, or possibly upon that of the Epeolus, which otherwise would seem to have no check to its fertility, excepting that it may be subdued by the Forficulæ.

These insects are to be found during the spring and summer months, and throughout the southern counties, 191although some species are extremely local. Some occur also in the north of England and in Ireland. I am not prepared to say what flowers they prefer, for I have never captured them on flowers, but they have been found frequenting the Ragwort, and Curtis took a species at Parley Heath, in Hampshire, on the Bluebell (Campanula glomerata). They form a remarkable instance of an artisan bee, but so only in its habits, amongst the Andrenides.

Two submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 2. Prosopis, Fabricius.

(Plate I. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

Melitta * b, Kirby.—Hylæus, Latreille.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, flattish; ocelli in an open triangle on the vertex; antennæ geniculated, the basal joint of the flagellum as long as the second, and both subclavate, the rest of the joints short and equal; face flat, slightly protuberant between the insertion of the antennæ, and distinguished from the clypeus by a suture; clypeus transversely quadrate, slightly widening gradually to the apex, marginate; labrum transverse, obovate, fringed with setæ; mandibles broad at apex, tridentate; cibarial apparatus short; tongue broad, subemarginate and fringed with short hair; paraglossæ very slightly longer than the tongue, their apex broadly rounded and fringed with hair; labial palpi as long as the tongue, joints subequal, gradating in substance, subclavate; labium about as long as the tongue, pyramidal at its apical inosculation; maxillæ about as long as the tongue, slightly lanceolate, fringed with short hair; 192maxillary palpi rather longer than the maxillæ, with six joints, the basal joint robust and slightly constricted in the middle, the third joint linear and the longest, the remainder gradually decreasing in length and substance.

Thorax subquadrate; prothorax transverse, linear, angulated at the sides; mesothorax with its bosses protuberant; scutellum and post-scutellum semilunulate; metathorax abruptly truncate, and longitudinally carinated in the centre; wings with two submarginal cells, a third slightly indicated, the first recurrent nervure springing from the extreme apex of the first submarginal cell, closely to the first transverso-cubital nervure, and the second closely before the termination of the second submarginal cell; stigma of the wing large and distinct; legs wholly destitute of polliniferous hair, the terminal joint of the tarsus as long as the two preceding; claws bifid; Abdomen subtruncate at the base, subconical with a downward bias.

The MALE differs in having the mandibles distinctly bidentate, the external tooth acute; the antennæ are very slightly longer and more curved, and their colouring is more intense and more widely distributed. These insects are glabrous, generally intensely black, dull on the head and thorax, but shining on the abdomen, and are more or less thickly punctured, and they are usually gaily marked with yellow, citron, or red, especially on the face, thorax, and legs.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. annulatus, Fab., ♂ ♀. 2½-3 lines.

annulatus, Kirby.

2. dilatata, Kirby, ♂. 3 lines. (Plate I. fig. 2 ♂.)

Hylæus dilatatus, Curtis.

1933. annularis, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2½-3 lines.

4. hyalinata, Smith, ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines.

5. signata, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 3-3½ lines. (Plate I. fig. 2 ♀.)

signata, Kirby.

6. cornuta, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3-3¼ lines.

7. varipes, Sm., ♂ ♀. 1½ lines.

8. variegata, Fab., ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus is named from προσωπὶς, apparently in allusion to its seemingly masked face, most of the species having yellow markings more or less conspicuous upon the face.

It is the least pubescent of any of the bees, even less so than those confirmed parasites, the genera Nomada and Stelis, thus further tending to corroborate its apparently parasitical habits, for none of the truly pollinigerous bees are so destitute of hair. The ground-colour of the species is intensely black, variously decorated on the face, thorax, and legs, with markings of different intensities of yellow; but one of our species, the P. variegata, is also gaily marked with red. Indeed exotic species, and especially those of warm climates, are often very gay insects.

They have usually been considered as parasitical insects, from their being unfurnished with the customary apparatus of hair upon the posterior legs, with which pollinigerous insects are generally so amply provided. In contradiction to their parasitism, it is asserted that they have been repeatedly bred from bramble sticks; this circumstance is no proof of the fact of their not 194being parasitical, for many bees, for instance Ceratina, Heriades, etc., nidificate in bramble sticks, and they may have superseded the nidificating bee by depositing their ova in the nests of the latter; although it certainly is a remarkable circumstance that some one of these bees has never escaped destruction in the several instances in which these have been thus bred. It is also said that their nests contain a semi-liquid honey. The fact of the larva of a wild bee being nurtured upon any other provender than a mixture of pollen and honey, does not elsewhere occur, and it would seem to contradict the function this family is ordained to exercise, by conveying pollen from flower to flower, and which besides, in every other case, constitutes the nutritive aliment of the larva. But then, again, the structure of its tongue, which resembles somewhat that of Colletes in lateral expansion, and with which it would be provided for some analogous purpose, seems to contradict parasitical habits, although St. Fargeau asserts that it is parasitical upon this genus, and if so, although it has not been observed in this country, the analogous structure of the tongue might be perhaps explained.

But notwithstanding this deficiency of positive characters, from the absence of pollinigerous organs, nature is not to be controlled by laws framed by us upon the imperfect induction of incomplete facts, for if it be incontestable that this genus is constructive and not parasitical, the riddle presented by this structure of its tongue is at once solved, for without any affinity beyond that single peculiarity with Colletes, it presents an anomaly of organization which cannot be accounted for but by its application to a use similar to what we find it applied in that extraordinary genus,—a use that could 195not be extant in a parasite. In Colletes it is the concomitant of as ample a power of collecting pollen as any that we find exhibited throughout the whole range of our native bees, but in Prosopis it is concurrent with a total deficiency of the ordinary apparatus employed for that purpose.

One of the species of this genus has been found near Bristol, with the indication of a Stylops having escaped from it, which is a further extension of the parasitism of that most extraordinary genus, but the Stylops frequenting it has not yet been discovered, which would doubtless present a new species, therefore an interesting addition to the series already known.

These insects are not at all uncommon in some of the species during the latter spring and summer months, and they frequent the several Resedas, being very fond of Mignonette. They are also found upon the Dracocephalum Moldavica, and occur not unfrequently upon the Onion, which in blossom is the resort of many interesting insects. The majority of them emit when captured, and if held within the fingers, a very pungent citron odour, exceedingly refreshing on a hot day, in intense sunshine. Some of the species are rare, especially those very highly coloured, as is also the P. dilatata, so named from the peculiar triangular expansion of the basal joint of the antennæ, the female of which is not known or possibly has only been overlooked or not identified. The P. varipes and P. variegata, which are the most richly coloured, occur in the west of England, and in one, the P. cornuta, the clypeus is furnished with a tubercle.

196Subsection b. Linguæ lanceolatæ (with lancet-shaped tongues).

Genus 3. Sphecodes, Latreille.

(Plate I. fig. 3 ♂♀.)

Melitta ** a, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, linear, fully as wide as the thorax, flat, with a slightly convex tendency; ocelli in a triangle; antennæ short, scarcely geniculated; face beneath the insertion of the antennæ, protuberant; clypeus transverse, margined, convex; labrum transversely ovate, deeply emarginate, in the centre in front; mandibles bidentate, obtuse, the external tooth projecting much further than the second; tongue short, lanceolate, fringed with setæ; paraglossæ not so long as the tongue, abruptly terminated, and setose at the extremity; labial palpi not so long as the paraglossæ; the joints comparatively elongate and slender, and decreasing towards the apex in length and substance; labium rather longer than the tongue, its inosculation straightly transverse; maxillæ about the length of the tongue, broad and lanceolate; maxillary palpi six-jointed, the first joint shorter and less robust than the second, which is also shorter and less robust than the third, which is the longest and most robust of all, the terminal joints more slender, and declining gradually in length. Thorax ovate; prothorax linear, produced into a sharp tooth on each side; mesothorax with longitudinal lateral impressed lines; bosses acutely protuberant; scutellum quadrate; postscutellum inconspicuous; metathorax slightly gibbous; wings with three submarginal cells, and a fourth slightly commenced, the second narrow, forming a truncated triangle, and receiving the 197first recurrent nervure in its centre, the second recurrent nervure springing from just beyond the centre of the third submarginal cell; legs slightly but rigidly spinose and setose; claws bifid. Abdomen ovate.

The MALES differ, in having the antennæ longer and sometimes moniliform, the lower part of the face and clypeus usually covered with a dense short silvery decumbent pubescence, and they have the metathorax truncated at its base; in other respects they greatly resemble their females.

The insects of this genus may be called glabrous, their pubescence being so slight and scattered, they usually shine brightly, and are more or less deeply punctured; and the abdomen is always partially or entirely of a bright ferruginous red, sometimes verging into fuscous or pitchy.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. gibbus, Linnæus, ♂♀. 3-4½ lines. (Plate I. fig. 3 ♂♀).

sphecoides, Kirby, ♀.

monilicornis, Kirby, ♂.

picea, Kirby, ♂.

2. Geoffroyella, Kirby, ♂♀. 1-3 lines.

divisa, Kirby, ♂.

3. fuscipennis, Germar, ♂♀. 4½-6 lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus is named from σφὴξ, a wasp, from its apparent resemblance to some of the sand wasps.

They are not uncommon insects, and I have found them abundant in sandy spots sporting in the sunshine upon the bare ground, where they run about with great activity, the females chiefly, the males the while disporting 198themselves upon any flowers that may be adjacent, and they are especially fond of Ragwort. Their prevalent colours are black and red, the latter occurring only on the abdomen in different degrees of intensity and extension, sometimes occupying the whole of that division of the body, and sometimes limited to a band across it. Much difficulty attaches to the determination of the species from the characters which separate them being extremely obscure, for it is not safe to depend upon the differences of the arrangement of colour upon them, as it varies infinitely; nor can their relative sizes be depended upon as a clue, for in individuals which must be admitted to be of the same species, size takes a wider extent of difference than in almost any of the genera of bees. St. Fargeau, who maintains the parasitism of the genus, accounts for it by saying that in depositing their eggs in the nests of the Andrenæ, Halicti, and Dasypoda, the Sphecodes resorts to the burrows of the species of these genera indifferent to their adaptation to its own size, and thus from the abundance or paucity of food so furnished to its larvæ, does it become a large or a small individual. Westwood says the species are parasitical upon Halictus. Latreille says they are parasites. They are certainly just as destitute of the pollinigerous apparatus as the preceding genus. Mr. Thwaites once thought he had detected a good specific character in the differing lengths of the joints of the antennæ, but I believe he never thoroughly satisfied himself of its being practically available. At all events great difficulty still attaches to their rigid and satisfactory determination. There is an array of entomologists who deny their being parasites. Mr. Kirby says they form their burrows in bare sections 199of sandbanks exposed to the sun, and nine or ten inches deep, and which they smooth with their tongues. But then, in impeachment of the accuracy of his observation, he further supposes there are three sexes, founding his statement upon what Réaumur remarks of having observed pupæ of three different sizes in the burrows. In the first place, it is not conclusive that these pupæ were those of Sphecodes, and secondly we know that this condition of three sexes is found only in the social tribes, wherein the peculiarities of the economy exact a division of offices. Therefore his adoption of this inaccuracy militates against the reception of his other statement. But Smith also states that they are not parasites, and apparently founds his assertion upon direct observation. It still, however, remains a debatable point, from the fact of the destitution of pollinigerous brushes, and thence the character of the food necessary to be stored for the larva. It would be very satisfactory if these apparent inconsistencies could be lucidly explained.

If, however, it be ultimately proved that Sphecodes is a constructive bee, as well as Prosopis, we have then this fact exhibited by our native genera, that none of the subfamily of our short-tongued bees, or Andrenidæ, are parasitical. This is a remarkable peculiarity, as it is amongst them that we should almost exclusively expect to find that distinguishing economy, from the seemingly imperfect apparatus furnished in the short structure of their tongues. It is possible, however, that nature has so moulded them as to fit them chiefly for fulfilling its objects within merely a certain range of the floral reign, and which restricts them to visiting flowers which do not require the protrusion of a long organ to rifle their sweet stores.

200Genus 4. Andrena, Fabricius.

(Plates II. and III.)

Melitta ** c, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, as wide as the thorax; ocelli in a triangle on the vertex; antennæ filiform, geniculated, the basal joint of the flagellum the longest; face flat; clypeus convex, transverse, quadrate, slightly rounded in front; labrum transverse, oblong; mandibles bidentate; tongue moderately long, lanceolate, fringed with fine hair; paraglossæ half the length of the tongue, abruptly terminated and setose at the extremity; labium about half the length of the entire apparatus, its inosculation acute; labial palpi inserted above it, below the origin of the paraglossæ in a sinus upon the sides of the tongue; maxillæ irregularly lanceolate; maxillary palpi six-jointed, longer than the maxillæ, the basal joint about as long as the fourth, but more robust, the second joint the longest, the rest declining in length and substance. Thorax ovate; prothorax not distinct; mesothorax quadrate; bosses protuberant; scutellum lunate; post-scutellum lunulate; metathorax gibbous, and pubescent laterally; wings with three submarginal cells, and a fourth slightly commenced, the second quadrate, and with the third receiving a recurrent nervure about their middle; legs densely pubescent, especially externally, and particularly the posterior pair, which have a long curled lock upon the trochanter beneath, the anterior upper surface of the femora clothed with long loose hair, which equally surrounds the whole of the tibiæ, but which is less long upon their plantæ, the claws strongly bifid. Abdomen ovate, a dense fringe edging the fifth segment, 201and the terminal segment having a triangular central plate, its sides rigidly setose.

The MALE differs in having the head rather wider than the thorax, the vertex where the ocelli are placed more protuberant, the mandibles very large and more acutely bidentate, sometimes largely forcipate and with but one acute tooth; the males in most species greatly differ from their females.

None of these insects exhibit any positive colouring of the integument, excepting in some upon the abdomen, which exhibits red bands, and is disposed to vary considerably in intensity and breadth, and in some the clypeus and face are of a cream-colour, but which occurs chiefly among the males. They are very dissimilar in general appearance, some being densely pubescent all over, others merely so on the head and thorax; others are banded with white decumbent down, and some are wholly unmarked upon the abdomen. These peculiarities help to group them, and thus facilitate their recognition.

NATIVE SPECIES.

§ Banded with red on the abdomen, the segments of which are more or less fringed.

1. Hattorfiana, Fab., ♂ ♀. 6—7 lines.

Lathamana, Kirby, ♀.

hæmorrhoidalis, Kirby, ♀.

2. zonalis, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4½-5 lines.

3. florea, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 5-6½ lines.

Rosæ, Kirby, var.

4. Rosæ, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-6 lines. (Plate III. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

Rosæ, Kirby, ♀.

2025. decorata, Smith, ♂ ♀. 5-6½ lines.

6. Schrankella, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

affinis, Kirby.

7. cingulata, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 3½-4 lines. (Plate III. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

cingulata, Kirby.

§§ Abdominal segments edged with decumbent short down, or fringed with long hair.

8. longipes, Shuckard, ♂ ♀. 4-6 lines. (Plate III. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

9. chrysosceles, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-4½ lines.

10. dorsata, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines.

combinata, Kirby.

nudiuscula, Kirby.

11. connectens, Kirby. 5 lines.

12. Wilkella, Kirby, ♀. 5¾ lines.

13. Coitana, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4 lines.

Shawella, Kirby.

14. labialis, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5½-6 lines.

15. Lewinella, ♂. 3¾ lines.

16. xanthura, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-6 lines.

ovatula, Kirby.

17. Collinsonana, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-4½ lines.

digitalis, Kirby.

proxima, Kirby.

18. albicrus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5½ lines.

barbilabris, Kirby.

19. minutula, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2½-3½ lines.

parvula, Kirby.

20. nana, Kirby, ♀. 3½ lines.

21. convexiuscula, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5 lines.

22. Kirbyi, Curtis, ♀. 6 lines.

20323. fuscata, Kirby, ♀. 4½ lines.

24. Afzeliella, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4½-5 lines.

25. fulvicrus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3½-5¼ lines.

contigua, Kirby.

26. fulvago, Christ. ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines.

fulvago, Kirby.

27. tibialis, Kirby. 5-7¼ lines.

atriceps, Kirby.

28. Mouffetella, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5-7 lines.

29. nigro-ænea, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5-6½ lines.

30. bimaculata, Kirby, ♂. 5½ lines.

31. Trimmerana, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5-6 lines.

32. conjuncta, Smith, ♀. 5½ lines.

33. varians, Rossi, ♂ ♀. 4-5½ lines.

34. helvola, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 5-5½ lines.

picipes, Kirby, ♂.

angulosa, Kirby.

35. Gwynana, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5½ lines.

pilosula, Kirby.

36. angustior, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

37. picicornis, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5-6 lines.

38. spinigera, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5-6 lines.

39. Smithella, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3-6 lines.

40. Lapponica, Zetterstedt, ♂ ♀. 3½-5½ lines.

41. tridentata, Kirby, ♂. 4½ lines.

42. denticulata, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5½ lines.

Listerella, Kirby.

43. nigriceps, Kirby, ♀. 5 lines.

44. pubescens, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

rufitarsis, Kirby.

fuscipes, Kirby.

204§§§§ Thorax very pubescent, abdomen smooth and shining.

45. albicans, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

46. pilipes, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 5-7 lines.

pratensis, Kirby.

47. cineraria, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 5-7 lines. (Plate II. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

cineraria, Kirby.

48. thoracica, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 5-7½ lines.

thoracica, Kirby.

melanocephala, Kirby.

49. nitida, Fourcroy, ♂ ♀. 5-6½ lines. (Plate II. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

nitida, Kirby.

50. vitrea, Smith, ♀. 6½ lines.

§§§§ The entire body densely pubescent.

51. fulva, Schrank, ♂ ♀. 4-6½ lines. (Plate II. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

fulva, Kirby.

52. Clarkella, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4½-6½ lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Fabricius seems to have named this genus from ανθρήνη, a wasp, but why, it is impossible to say. Although one name is as good as another, it being indifferent what the name may be, yet where so evident an attempt to give a name pertinence is conspicuous, it is remarkable that it should be so little relevant, for none of the characteristics of a wasp or hornet are exhibited in these insects.

Possibly it was from the genus being the most numerous in species that Dr. Leach was induced to give 205this subfamily its collective designation, making the other genera thus converge to it as to a centre. He took its elliptical form as typical. Indeed, it is remarkable how very judiciously this was done, for it is a form not apparent among the normal bees excepting in two exceptional cases, the one upon the frontiers of this subfamily, in almost debatable land, where the last of the Andrenidæ and the first of the Apidæ seem almost to melt into one another; and in the other case, in the parasitical Nomada, whose parasitism is in every instance, but one only, restricted to the first subfamily. A different type of form prevails amongst the Apidæ, upon which I shall have subsequently occasion to speak.

These insects are not distinguished for any elaborate economy. Varying in the species, some prefer vertical banks, others sloping undulations, and again others horizontal flat ground or hard down-trodden pathways. Some burrow singly, and others are gregarious, collected in great numbers upon one spot. They are, perhaps, the most inartificial burrowers of all the bees. Their tunnels vary from five to nine or ten inches in depth, and in some species they are formed with other small tunnels slanting off from the main cylinder. The sides and bottom are merely smoothed, without either drapery or polish. The little cells thus formed are then supplied with the usual mixture of pollen and honey kneaded together, which in the larger species forms a mass of about the size of a moderate red currant, its instinct teaching it the quantity necessary for the nurture of the young which shall proceed from the egg that it then deposits upon this collected mass of food. The aperture of each little tunnel is closed with particles of the earth or sand wherein the insect burrows, 206and it proceeds to the elaboration of another receptacle for a fresh brood until its stock of eggs becomes exhausted. Some species have two broods hatched in the year, especially the earlier ones,—for several present themselves with the earliest flowers,—but others are restricted to but one. The quantity of pollen they collect is considerable, and in fact they are supplied with an apparatus additional to what is furnished to any of the other genera in a curled rather long lock of hair that emanates from the posterior trochanters. This, with the fringes that edge the lower portion and sides of the metathorax, as well as the usual apparatus upon the posterior legs, enables the insect to carry in each flight home a comparatively large quantity of pollen, but perhaps scarcely enough at once for the nurture of one young one, and it therefore repeats the same operation until sufficient is accumulated.

The exact period occupied by their transformations is not strictly known; it will, of course, vary in the species, as also in those in which two broods succeed each other in the year, but the larva rapidly consumes its store and then undergoes its transformation. It does not spin a cocoon, but in its pupa state it is covered all over with a thin pellicle, which adheres closely to all the distinct parts of the body. It is not known how this is formed; perhaps it is a membrane which transudes in a secretion through the skin of the larva, or it may be this itself converted to its new use, which seems to be for the protection of all the parts of the now transmuting imago, until these in due course shall have acquired their proper consistency.

These insects in their perfect state vary very considerably in size, both individually and specifically, the 207former depending upon both the quantity and quality of the food stored up, for the pollen of different plants varies possibly in its amount of nutriment, else why should we observe so marked a difference in the sizes of individuals whose parent instinct would prompt to furnish them with an uniform and equal supply. The differences of specific appearance is often very considerable in long genera, and perhaps in no genus is it more conspicuously so than in Andrena, for here we have some wholly covered with dense hair, and others almost glabrous; others again with the thorax only pubescent; some are black, some white, some fulvous, or golden tinted, and some red; some we find banded with decumbent down, and others with merely lateral spots of this close hair, but the most prevalent colour is brown, which will sometimes by immaturity take a fulvous or reddish hue. In many males we see excentrically large transversely square heads broader than the thorax, which also have widely spreading forcipate mandibles, with often a downward projecting spine at their base beneath; and it is chiefly these extravagantly formed males which are most dissimilar to their own partners that the result of observation alone confirms their specific identity. In other cases the males are so like their females that a mere neophyte would unite them. In many males the clypeus and labrum are white, which also occurs in some females; for instance, in A. labialis, but this peculiarity is found more rarely in this sex. The species are much exposed to the restricting influences of several parasites, whose parasitism is of a varying character, but the term should properly be applied only to the bees which deposit their eggs in their nests, and whose young, like that of the cuckoo among 208the birds, thrives at the expense of the young of the sitos by consuming its food, and thus starving it. These parasites consist of many of the species of Nomada, very pretty and gay insects, but in every case totally unlike the bee whose nest they usurp. Several of the species of these Nomadæ are not limited to any particular species of Andrena, but infest several indifferently, whereas others have no wider range in their spoliation than one single species, to which they always confine themselves. In my observations under the genus Nomada I shall notify those which they assail amongst the Andrenæ, as well as the other genera which they also infest.

The others which attack them are more properly positive enemies than parasites, for they prey upon the bees themselves, or, as in the case of the remarkable genus Stylops, render the bee abortive by consuming its viscera and ovaries. I have spoken of these insects in the chapter upon parasites, to which I must refer, but I may here add that the female is apterous, and never quits the body of the bee. Much mystery attaches to their history in which their impregnation is involved, for the male, immediately upon undergoing its change into the imago, escapes through the dorsal plates of the abdomen of the bee wherein it was bred and takes flight. In localities where they occur they may be usually taken on the wing in the month of May. The female would seem to be viviparous, and produces extraordinary multitudes at one birth, extending to hundreds. Being born as larvæ within the body of the bee they seek to escape from their confinement, and find the opportunity in the suture which separates the mesothorax from the metathorax. Their extreme minuteness 209admits of their passing through the very constricted tube which connects the abdomen with the thorax. Having now escaped into the air they alight upon the flowers which the bee frequents, and thence they affix themselves to other bees which may visit these plants, and thus perpetuate the activity of the function it is their instinct to fulfil. That many may be lost there can be no question; but Nature is very prodigal of life, for by life it endows life, and thus its activity is enlarged to a wider circle. Although the matured Stylops has preyed upon all the internal organs of the bee its attack is not immediately fatal, although the life of the creature may be thus considerably abridged, but it seems to live sufficiently long afterwards to disseminate the distribution of the Stylops. A small blackish Pediculus, which Mr. Kirby called Pediculus Melittæ, is found also both upon the flowers the bees frequent and also upon the bees themselves, especially the pubescent ones; but this insect is not limited to the genus Andrena, as I shall have occasion to notice. The flower I have chiefly found them upon is the Dandelion (Leontodon). Their peculiar economy and connection with the bees is unknown; it may be merely an accidental and temporary attachment, but they even accompany them to their burrows.

Another and more curious case of attack upon the young of the Andrena, is instanced in the reputed parasitism of the Coleopterous genus Meloë. The perfect insect is a large apterous, fleshy, heteromerous beetle, ten times as big as the bee. Its vermicle, having issued from the egg, has the appearance of a very small pediculus, of an orange colour. They are often seen upon flowers, and, like the former pediculus, attach themselves to such suitable 210Andrena as may happen to visit the flowers they are upon; and, it is said, that they are thus conveyed by the bee to its domicile, and there feed to maturity upon the larva of the bee. I have no faith in the correctness of this statement, for it is not credible that so small a creature as the larva of an Andrena could fully feed the larva of so large a beetle. Observation has not satisfactorily confirmed it, and the connection may be, as in the former case, merely accidental.

Although, perhaps, not a strictly scientific course, it is certainly a matter of convenience in very long genera to break them up into divisions, framed upon external characters, readily perceptible, and, by which means, the species sought for may be more readily found. This I have done in the preceding list of the species, and which are based upon very prominent features. A slight divarication from the typical neuration of the wing is observed in some species, but it is not of a sufficiently marked character to afford a divisional separation, and even much less a subgeneric one. I have therefore passed it unnoticed. The commencing entomologist will often find considerable difficulty at first in determining the species of this genus, for so much depends upon condition; and where the colour of the pubescence is the chief characteristic, a very little exposure to the atmosphere much alters their physiognomy, but time, patience, and perseverance will ripen the novice into an adept. The connection of the males with the females, from their ordinarily great dissimilarity, was only to be accomplished by positive observation, but now that this, in the majority of cases, is effected, good descriptions facilitate their discrimination.

The most conspicuous species are the Hattorfiana and 211the Rosæ for size and colour; the Schrankella is also a very pretty species; and perhaps the commonest of all the cingulata is the prettiest of all, with its yellow nose and red abdomen; in the next section we may point out the longipes as being a very elegant insect,^[3] as are also the chrysosceles and the helvola. In this section we find those most subject to the attacks of the Stylops, for instance the labialis, convexiuscula, picicornis, Afzeliella, nigro-ænea, Trimmerana, Gwynana, etc. The whole of the third and fourth sections are splendid insects, especially the fulva in the last. The comparative rarity of some results chiefly from an exceedingly local habitat. Many of the species may be found everywhere where insects can be collected, consequently, all over the United Kingdom. In all the three seasons of the year, which prompt animal life, some of the species may be collected, and the flowers they chiefly prefer are the catkins, especially of the sallow, the early flowering-fruits, the hedge-row blossoms, the heath, the broom, the dandelion, chickweed, and very many others.

Genus 5. Cilissa, Leach.

(Plate V. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

Melitta ** c, partly, Kirby.—Andrena, Fab. Latreille.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, scarcely so wide as the thorax, flat; ocelli in an open triangle on the vertex; 212face flat; clypeus transverse, margined; labrum transverse, slightly rounded in front; mandibles bidentate; cibarial apparatus moderately long; tongue lanceolate, fringed with delicate hair; paraglossæ about one-third the length of the tongue, abruptly terminated, lacerate and setose at the extremity; labial palpi rather longer than the paraglossæ, the basal joint considerably the longest, all the joints subclavate and diminishing both in robustness and length to the apex; labrum half the length of the entire apparatus, its inosculation acutely triangular; maxillæ subhastate, as long as the tongue; maxillary palpi six-jointed, less than half the length of the maxillæ, the joints short, subclavate and decreasing gradually from the base to the apex. Thorax densely pubescent, obscuring its divisions; metathorax truncated; wings with three submarginal cells, and a fourth slightly commenced, the second subquadrate and receiving the first recurrent nervure in its centre, the second recurrent nervure issuing from beyond the centre of the third submarginal cell; legs all pilose, especially the posterior pair, which have hair beneath the coxæ and trochanters, above only on their femoræ, but surrounding the tibiæ, and as dense externally upon their plantæ; claws distinctly bifid. Abdomen ovate, truncated at the base, the segments banded at their apex, with decumbent down, which becomes densely and widely setose on the fifth segment, the terminal segment having a central triangular glabrous plate, carinated down the centre, and very rigidly setose laterally.

The MALE scarcely differs, except in having the antennæ 213less distinctly geniculated, the flagellum taking a sweeping curve, the face and clypeus much more pubescent, but the legs sexually less so; the sexes are much alike.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. tricincta, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 5 lines. (Plate V. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

? Apis leporina, Panzer.

2. hæmorrhoidalis, Fab. ♂ ♀.

hæmorrhoidalis chrysura, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus has been named without any reference to any peculiarity, Dr. Leach having applied a Proper name to it to designate it.

The Cilissa tricincta is perhaps most like the larger species of the genus Colletes, both in markings and in the form of the body, but in resemblance of form the second species participates. Although robust insects, and as large as the larger Andrenæ, they are yet unprovided with the same ample means for conveying pollen, being destitute of the lock of hair upon the posterior trochanters and the sides of the metathorax are less densely pubescent. The ground colour is brown. Their economy is assumed to resemble that of Andrena, although it has not been so closely investigated; for my own part I have never had the opportunity of tracing it to its nidus, having always captured the species upon flowers. They are fond of the trefoil (Trifolium repens), and the C. chrysura frequents the Campanula rotundifolia, as well as the flowers of the throatwort (Trachelium). In their excursions they are usually accompanied by their males. Both species are found in the south and west of England.

214Section 2. With entire paraglossæ.

Subsection c. Linguæ Acutæ (acute tongues).

a. With three submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 6. Halictus, Latreille.

(Plate IV.)

Melitta ** b, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, flattish, scarcely so wide as the thorax; ocelli in an open triangle on the vertex, which is flat; antennæ short, filiform, geniculated, scape quite or more than half as long as the flagellum; face flat, excepting in the centre just below the insertion of the antennæ, where it is protuberant; clypeus transversely lunulate, very convex; labrum subquadrate, very convex, with a central, linear, carinated appendage in front, nearly as long as the basal portion; cibarial apparatus moderate; tongue very acute and delicately fringed with short hair; paraglossæ acute, about half the length of the tongue; labial palpi not quite so long as the paraglossæ, the basal joint very long, the rest decreasing gradually in length; labium about as long as the tongue, its inosculation emarginate; maxillæ subhastate, rather longer than the tongue; maxillary palpi filiform, the basal joint the shortest, second the longest, the rest decreasing in length. Thorax oval, usually pubescent, sometimes glabrous; prothorax inconspicuous, as are the bosses of the mesothorax; scutellum and post-scutellum lunulate, the former convex; metathorax gibbous or truncated, but laterally pubescent even in the glabrous species; wings with three submarginal cells, and a fourth sometimes commenced, the second subquadrate and receiving the first recurrent nervure close to its extremity, the second being received beyond 215the centre of the third submarginal cell [a slightly different arrangement takes place in some of the species, which will be noticed subsequently]; the legs all setose, but the setæ not very long, and the posterior coxæ and trochanters have long hair beneath; the claws bifid. Abdomen ovate, the terminal segment with a longitudinal linear incision in its centre.

The MALES differ in having the antennæ as long or longer than the thorax; the labrum transverse, linear, and the abdomen usually elongate and cylindrical, and much longer than the head and thorax.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. xanthopus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 ½ lines. (Plate IV. fig. 1 ♂♀.)

Lasioglossum tricingulum, Curtis.

2. quadricinctus, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines.

quadricinctus, Kirby.

3. rubicundus, Christ. ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

rubicundus, Kirby.

4. cylindricus, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 3-5 lines.

malachura, Kirby.

fulvo-cincta, Kirby.

abdominalis, Kirby.

5. albipes, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 3-4 lines.

albipes, Kirby.

obovata, Kirby.

6. lævigatus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3-4½ lines.

lugubris, Kirby.

7. leucozonius, Schrank, ♂. 3-4½ lines.

leucozonius, Kirby.

8. quadrinotatus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines.

9. sexnotatus, Kirby, ♂ ♀.

21610. lævis, Kirby, ♀. 4 lines.

11. fulvicornis, Kirby, ♂. 4 lines.

12. minutus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2½-3½ lines.

13. nitidiusculus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines.

14. minutissimus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 1½-2½ lines. (Plate IV. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

15. flavipes, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3-4 lines. (Plate IV. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

seladonia, Kirby.

16. Smeathmanellus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2½-3½ lines.

17. æratus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2½-3 lines.

18. leucopus, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 3-3½ lines.

19. morio, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2-2½ lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus was named by Latreille from ἁλίξω, to crowd, or collect together, from the fact of their nidificating in numbers on the same spot.

The females closely resemble in form those of the genus Andrena, but the males are very unlike both those of that genus and their own females, for they all have long cylindrical bodies and very long antennæ, much longer relatively than those of the former genus. Although none of the species approach in size the larger ones of the preceding genus, their extremes of specific size are as distant apart as they are in that genus, the smallest being extremely minute. Some of even the commoner species are very pretty when in fine condition, and several of them have a rich metallic green or blue tint, and in the majority the wings are iridescent with the brightest and gayest colours of the rainbow. The numbers in which they associate together upon the same spot varies considerably, and a very few indeed 217burrow solitarily and apart from their congeners. In burrowing they form a tunnel which branches off to several cells, the excavations being as inartificial as are those of Andrena. Walkenaer tells us in his memoir upon the genus Halictus, that they line their cells with a kind of glaze, that they burrow in horizontal surfaces to a depth of about five inches, and which they polish very smoothly previous to covering it with their viscous secretion, and that the cells are all oval, the largest end being at the bottom. He says also that they burrow solely during the night, especially when the moon is shining, when it is difficult to walk without treading upon them; so numerous are they, indeed, that they look like a cloud floating close to the surface of the ground. Although burrowing thus at night, it is only during the day that they supply their nests with their provision of pollen and lay their eggs. Each of their cells is furnished with a small ball of pollen, varying in size with the species, but which never entirely fills the cell, and is affixed intermediately between both extremities, and upon the mass contained in each cell they deposit their small egg, which is placed at the extremity of the lump of pollen most distant from the entrance. The larva is hatched in about ten days, when it changes into the pupa. Some doubt attaches as to the length of time that the pupa remains before its transformation into the imago, and also as to the period at which this takes place. A peculiarity attends the appearance of the larger species. Some are very early spring insects, among which is the Halictus rubicundus; this I have seen in abundance on the first fine spring days collecting its stores on the flowers of the chickweed. It is then in the very finest condition, and it is really a very beautiful 218although a very common insect, having a richly golden fulvous pubescence on the thorax, an intensely black and glabrous abdomen, the apex of which is fringed with golden hair. No males are now to be found at all. Yet it is only some species, and these the larger ones, which are subject to this peculiarity, for the smaller ones I have found burrowing during the summer months in vertical or sloping banks with a sunny aspect, whilst the males were hovering about both in the vicinity and close by, sometimes either playing or fighting on the wing with the very small Nomadæ, which infest these species parasitically, whilst their females were sedulously pursuing their vocation. Gradually these joyous spring insects lose their gayness and their brilliancy, as do those which have followed in succession of development with the growing year, and they become senile and faded and are lost as they have progressively fulfilled their function. By this time the ragwort is in bloom, and the thistle displays its pinky blossoms; now the males are to be found numerously exhibiting themselves upon these flowers, and also another equally fresh brood to those of the spring and early summer, of females. My friend the late Mr. Pickering, who was in the early days of the present Entomological Society, when it held its meetings in Old Bond Street, its honorary curator, and who was then and always, even when less leisure was afforded him from professional duties, a most assiduous and diligent observer of the habits of insects, propounded his theory, both in conversation and before the meetings of the Society, although he never drew up a paper upon the subject, that these females were then impregnated, upon which they retired to a hibernaculum, and there remained until the breath of a new spring 219brought them forth in all the beauty of their gay attire, and that it was from their broods deposited thus in the spring and early summer, that the autumnal insects were developed. This theory is both plausible and possible, and I have no doubt that it is the correct one; and thus is explained the total absence of males at the time of the appearance of the females in the foremost portions of the year; this habit we shall find also in the Bombi.

The flowers they delight in, besides those previously named, are among others the ribwort plantain, and the bramble, as well as the Umbelliferæ and the flowers of the broom. The females possess two remarkable distinctions of structure not found in any of the other bees, which consist in an articulated appendage in the centre of the front margin of the labrum, and a vertical cleft in the terminal segment of the abdomen, both of which will necessarily have their uses in the economy of the insect, although what these may be has not been discovered.

They, like Andrena, are exposed to parasites and enemies. The smaller species of Nomada infest their smaller kinds, and St. Fargeau tells us that the Sphecodes are also parasitical upon them. The smallest of the genus, which is indeed an exceedingly minute insect, is subject to a very minute strepsipterous destroyer; whether this be a genuine Stylops I am not aware, but the supporting insect being so minute, in fact the smallest of our bees, how small must be the enemy bred within it! Another genus of this order has been found by Mr. Dale upon them, and which is figured as the genus Elenchus in Curtis’s ‘British Entomology.’ The smaller species are also attacked, upon their return home laden, by spiders and ants. Chryses and Hedychra are 220bred at their expense, and some of the Ichneumons attack them, as well as the fossorial Hymenoptera of the genera Cerceris, Crabro, and Philanthus, and these latter carry them off bodily to furnish their own nests with pabulum. Several of the species exhale a rich balmy odour, and, like all the Andrenidæ, they are silent on the wing, and their sting is innocuous and not painful. The males are very eager in their amours, and are not easily repulsed.

Some of the species vary slightly in the neuration of the wings, and this being a rather numerous genus, although not nearly approaching the extent of Andrena, it has been proposed to make use of it for its division, but I think this is scarcely required, it not being sufficiently abundant to cause any inconvenience, the species being so distinctly marked in their specific differences by the aid of the metallic brilliancy of several of them. I have therefore arranged the species in the above list in connective order without intermission, and have placed in juxtaposition those species which appear the closest in affinity.

b. With two submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 7. Macropis, Panzer.

(Plate V. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, as wide as the thorax, flattish; ocelli placed in a very open curve upon the vertex; face flat, but convex in the centre beneath the insertion of the antennæ; clypeus very slightly convex; labrum transverse, narrowly lunulate; mandibles bidentate; cibarial apparatus moderately long; tongue very 221acute and fringed with delicate down; paraglossæ barely half the length of the tongue, and acute, their apex fringed laterally with down; labial palpi inserted in a deep sinus, filiform, the basal joint the longest, the rest diminishing both in length and substance; labium about half the length of the entire organ, its inosculation emarginate; maxillæ hastate, rather longer than the tongue; maxillary palpi six-jointed, the basal joint the shortest, the third the longest, the remainder diminishing gradually in length, and all declining in substance from the basal joint. Thorax oval, rather pubescent; prothorax transverse, curving to the mesothorax, whose bosses are inconspicuous; scutellum transverso-quadrate; post-scutellum transverse linear; metathorax truncated. Wings with two submarginal cells, and a third commenced, the second about as long as the first, and receiving both the recurrent nervures, the first near its commencement, and the second nearer its extremity; legs robust, with the posterior tibiæ and plantæ densely clothed externally with short hair; the plantæ broad; the second joint of the tarsus inserted at the lower angle of the plantæ; claws bifid. Abdomen subtriangular, truncated at its base, not longer than the thorax.

The MALE differs in having the antennæ as long as the thorax and curved; the posterior coxæ very large and robust, the trochanters small and triangular; the femora large and much swollen in the centre, the posterior tibiæ very large and triangular and convex externally, and the plantæ longer than the rest of the tarsus, and slightly curved beneath longitudinally.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. labiata, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines.

(Plate V. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

222GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The name of this genus comes from μακρὸς, long, and ὦψ, face, in allusion to the length of that portion of the head, although this assumed discriminative characteristic is scarcely suitable; this again constitutes another of the many instances wherein it would have been much preferable to have imposed a name without any significancy than one which is not thoroughly applicable. It is, indeed, always dangerous to attach a name to a new genus which has reference to some individual peculiarity, for it may eventually exhibit itself as limited to the one single species or sex to which it was originally applied, as to every other subsequently discovered species in the genus it may be inappropriate.

Nothing, so far as I am aware, is known of the habits of these singular insects, which, I believe, have been caught only three times in this country and then only the male sex.

The first, which is in the collection of the British Museum, was brought by Dr. Leach from Devonshire; the second was caught in the New Forest by the late John Walton, Esq., distinguished for his knowledge of the British Curculionidæ, and who kindly presented it to me for my collection when I was at the zenith of my enthusiasm for the Hymenoptera, and with that collection it passed to Mr. Thomas Desvignes, in whose possession it remains; and the third was caught by Mr. Stevens, at Weybridge, in Surrey. Why I enter so particularly into these circumstances is, that the genus is extremely peculiar both for scientific position and for structure. In the latter the male is extremely like the male of Saropoda and its female is more like the female Scopulipedes among the Apidæ than one of the Andrenidæ, 223especially in the form of the abdomen and of the intermediate and posterior legs, as well as in the length of the claws and the low insertion of the posterior joints of the tarsi upon their plantæ, a peculiarity not occurring in another genus of the Andrenidæ.

I have no doubt, also, that they are very musical in their flight and are, perhaps, as shrill-winged as is Saropoda; whereas one of the great characteristic specialities of the Andrenidæ is their silence. This genus, although restrained within the circuit of the subnormal bees by the structure and folding of its tongue, has so much of the habit of one of the true Apidæ that it almost prompts the wish to resuscitate the circular systems and place it within its own circle in analogical juxtaposition to Saropoda in the circle of the Apidæ, where they might impinge one upon the other. It is not often that so rare an insect is at the same time so curious and so suggestive. Having been found, there is no reason why it may not be again found with due and patient diligence; my own experience has taught me how easy it is even in well-hunted ground to make rarities common, within almost a stone’s throw of the metropolis, at Hampstead, Highgate, and Battersea, from which localities in the course of my entomological career I have introduced to our fauna many novelties, one of which was certainly a remarkable discovery, from the last spot named, which it is worth recording. A quantity of soil had been removed from the City where an artesian well was being bored, and consequently from varying depths, and carted thence and cast upon the edge of the river-bank at Battersea. The following season, from this soil, a thick and prodigious quantity of the common mustard plant shot up, and when in flower 224I happened to be collecting near the spot on the day of our gracious Queen’s coronation, when I captured multitudes of a splendid large Allantus, entirely new to the British fauna, and a choice addition to collections. This ground had been hunted at all seasons through all botanical and entomological time, and neither had the mustard plant been found there before nor had the insect. Whence did they both come? These observations have certainly nothing to do with the subject in hand, beyond suggesting that with untiring energy in the vicinities indicated where Macropis has been already found it may possibly turn up in abundance.

Genus 8. Dasypoda, Latreille.

Melitta ** c, partly, Kirby.

(Plate V. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

Gen. Char.: Head transverse; vertex glabrous; ocelli placed in a curved line; antennæ short, filiform, geniculated, the scape thickly bearded with long hair and scarcely half the length of the flagellum; face and clypeus densely pubescent, the latter slightly convex; labrum transverse, linear, slightly rounded in front; mandibles arcuate, bidentate, the teeth acute and robust; cibarial apparatus moderately long; tongue long, very acute, and fringed with delicate hair; paraglossæ about one-third the length of the tongue, very slender, and acute; the labial palpi inserted upon the junction of the labium, very slender, filiform, of uniform thickness, the joints subclavate, the basal joint considerably the longest, the second joint also long, the two terminal joints much shorter and decreasing in length; labium about the 225length of the tongue, its inosculation acutely triangular; maxillæ hastate, as long as the tongue; maxillary palpi six-jointed, rather more than half the length of the maxillæ, slender, the basal joint the most robust, the second the longest, the rest declining both in thickness and length. Thorax oval, densely pubescent, the divisions indistinct from its density; scutellum lunulate; metathorax subtruncate; wings with two submarginal cells and a third commenced, the second receiving both the recurrent nervures, the first close to its commencement and the second just beyond its centre; legs slender, pubescent, especially the tibiæ and plantæ, the hair upon the posterior pair being extremely dense and long, and each hair twisted minutely spirally; their coxæ, trochanters, and femora also covered with long hair; claws bifid, the inner tooth very short. Abdomen oval, the basal and fifth segments densely hairy, the superior surface glabrous and shining, excepting where the white decumbent bands broadly edge the three intermediate segments.

The MALE differs in being more densely pubescent, especially upon the abdomen, which is not glabrous, and in not having the antennæ geniculated; the bands of the abdomen are fulvous, and its legs are longer and more slender, and it is sexually less hairy, although still considerably so.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. hirtipes, Fab., ♂ ♀. 6-7 lines. (Plate V. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

Swammerdamella, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus is named from the extreme hairiness of its posterior legs, ποῦς, hairy, ποῦς, ποδὸς, foot or leg. 226It is one of the most elegant of our native bees, both in form and the extreme congruity of its habiliment. This is unfortunately but a bridal raiment, for almost as soon as the arduous duties of maternity supervene these bright garments fade, and the workday suit immediately shows the wear and tear produced by the labours of life. The male flaunts about longer in the freshness of his attire, but he is usually the assiduous companion of his spouse, although he does not participate in her toils. They are late summer insects, and form their burrows upon banks having a southern aspect; these they excavate deeper than does Andrena, and smooth and polish them internally. They generally prefer spots intertangled with shrubs, and at the mouth of the cylinder they tunnel they heap up the extracted soil, to use a portion for closing it when their task is accomplished. In the course of this process, especially if a cloud pass over the sun, they will come forward to the aperture. They collect large quantities of pollen, for which the hair upon their posterior tibiæ and plantæ is excellently well adapted both by its length and the additional storing power it possesses in each individual hair being spirally twisted, although they are unprovided with the furniture of hair upon the femora and coxæ found in the genus Andrenæ. Thus nature likes to vary its mode of accomplishing the same object. The details of their nursery processes are not known. For their protection their sting is very virulent, and also actively employed, as they have many enemies, especially amongst the fossorial Hymenoptera, whom they stoutly resist to the extent of their strength. We are not aware of any special parasites that infest them. They are semi-gregarious in their habits, for 227where they occur any quantity of them may be taken. They are found in their season in the southern counties, the Isle of Wight, and in several parts of Kent and its eastern coast, and even as near London as Charlton. They seem to prefer the composite flowers, having a great liking for the bastard Hawkweed and the Dandelion. A fine series of them forms a great ornament to a collection.

Subfamily 2. Apidæ (Normal Bees), Latreille.

Syn. Apis, Kirby.

Tongue always folded back in repose.

Maxillary palpi varying in the number of the joints.

Section 1. Solitary.

Subsection 1. Scopulipedes (brush-legged).

a. Femoriferæ (collectors on entire leg).

† With two submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 9. Panurgus, Panzer.

(Plate VI. fig. 1 ♂♀.)

Apis * a, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transversely subquadrate; ocelli in a triangle on the vertex, which, as well as the face, is convex, the latter between the antennæ carinated as far as the clypeus; antennæ short, subclavate, the second joint of the flagellum considerably the longest, the remainder equal; clypeus slightly convex; labrum transversely quadrate, convex; mandibles acutely unidentate; cibarial apparatus long; tongue half its entire length, gradually acute, and fringed laterally with delicate hair; paraglossæ slender, acute, membranous, not quite half the length of the tongue; labial palpi more than half 228the length of the tongue, the basal joint longer than the two following, the remainder gradually decreasing in length, all conterminous; labium half the length of the cibarial apparatus, broad; maxillæ slender, subhastate, as long as the tongue; maxillary palpi six-jointed, the basal joint robust, subclavate, as is the second joint, but more slender, the remainder filiform, gradually declining in length. Thorax oval; prothorax inconspicuous; mesothorax with a deep central groove; bosses protuberant; scutellum and post-scutellum lunulate; metathorax gibbous; wings with the marginal cell slightly appendiculated, two submarginal cells and a third commenced, the second receiving both the recurrent nervures, the first close to its commencement and the second beyond its centre; the legs densely pilose, the posterior pair having their coxæ and trochanters beneath, their femora in front, above, the tibiæ and plantæ all round, covered with long hair; claws bifid. Abdomen ovate, the base subtruncate, the basal segment having a deep central impression at its base, the fifth segment fringed with short dense hair, the terminal segment with a triangular plate carinated in the centre, and fimbriated laterally, and all very slightly constricted.

The MALE scarcely differs, except in having the head rather more globose and more pubescent; and the legs, although still hairy, much less so than in the female.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. Banksiana, Kirby, ♂♀. 4-5¼ lines.

ursinus, Curtis, iii. 101. (Plate VI. fig. 1 ♂♀.)

2. calcaratus, Scopoli, ♂♀. 3-4 lines.

ursinus, Kirby.

229GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Πανοῦργος signifies one excessively industrious, at least as it is applied here, although it has other less meritorious meanings, but these insects can scarcely be considered more energetic than any of their associates; perhaps the contrast made between the bright yellow pollen and their lugubrious vestment might give the idea of very active collecting, they being usually, upon returning from their foray, almost entirely disguised in the produce of their excursion. They are rather remarkable insects from their intensely black colour and their compact active forms; their square head and short clavate antennæ give them a sturdy business-like appearance. They also are silent on the wing, but being at the very van of the present subfamily, forming as it were the advanced picket of the Apidæ, it may be considered suitable that they should retain, by way of partial disguise, some of the characteristics of the preceding subfamily. In many respects, therefore, they closely approach Dasypoda: thus their legs are similarly furnished with hair, relatively as long and having the same spiral twist, and their whole habit is that of one of the Andrenidæ, excepting that their clavate antennæ, and the folding of their tongue in repose, separate them from that subfamily. They are local insects, but extremely abundant when fallen upon. I used to find the first species upon an elevated plateau, on the south side over-hanging the Vale of Health and its large pond at Hampstead. Every Dandelion, for a wide circuit in the vicinity, was crowded with individuals—assiduously collecting, in the case of females, but basking in sunny indolence, and revelling in the attractions of the flower, in the case 230of males, and, at the same time, their burrowing spot, which was not larger than half-a-dozen square yards, was swarming with them, coming and going, burrowing and provisioning. Very numerous, but not so numerous as themselves, were their pretty parasite, the Nomada Fabriciana, fine specimens of both sexes of which I have constantly captured; and a remarkable singularity pertaining to the latter is, that some seasons it would totally fail, and another season present itself sparsely, when, after these lapses, it would recur in all its primitive profusion, although the Panurgus was every season equally present. Both these insects are found during the months of June and July, especially about the middle of the former. In their burrows, which they perforate vertically, they usually enclose about six cells, each being duly provisioned and the egg deposited, when each is separately closed and the orifice of the cylinder filled up. This species is also found in Kent and Surrey, and I have no doubt they might be discovered in most of the southern counties. The smaller species, which is a good deal like a little Tiphia, is remarkable for the peculiarity of the male having a projecting process upon its posterior femora, whence it derives its specific name, calcaratus, which is hardly consistent, as it is not quite the right place for a spur. This smaller species is also found in Kent, Hampshire, and at Weybridge, in Surrey, and in the Isle of Wight. As well as in the Leontodon, it likes to repose in the flowers of the Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Hieracium).

231b. Cruriferæ (collectors on the shanks and tarsi).

† With two submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 10. Eucera, Scopoli.

(Plate VI. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

Apis ** d 1, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse; vertex concave; ocelli in a curve, and very high up; face flattish; clypeus very convex, hirsute, and fimbriated; labrum transverse-ovate, and emarginate in front; mandibles very obtusely and inconspicuously bidentate; tongue very long and slender, and gradually acuminating, transversely striated; paraglossæ slender, membranous, very acute, and about two-thirds the length of the tongue; labial palpi membranous, and about the length of the paraglossæ, the basal joint linear, broad, longer than the rest united, the second about half its length and acuminate, the two terminal ones are very short and equal, and articulate within the apex of the second joint; labium less than half the length of the tongue, its inosculation concave; maxillæ two-thirds the length of the tongue, subhastate; maxillary palpi six-jointed, short, less than one-third the length of the maxillæ, the basal joint robust, the rest filiform, and gradually decreasing in length and substance. Thorax very pubescent, which conceals its divisions; metathorax truncated; wings with two submarginal cells, the second receiving both the recurrent nervures, one near each of its extremities; legs setose, especially the tibiæ and plantæ, which, in the posterior pair is very dense on the exterior of the tibiæ, and both externally and internally upon the plantæ, the following joints of the posterior tarsi inserted beneath, and within 232the extremity of their plantæ; the claw-joint being longer than the two preceding, and the claws acutely bifid. Abdomen oval, convex above, subtruncate at the base, where it is thickly pubescent, the other segments glabrous on the disk; the fifth segment fimbriated with decumbent short hair, and the terminal segment having a central triangular plate at the sides of which it is rigidly setose.

The MALE differs in having the antennæ longer than the thorax, filiform, but with their several joints curved, the curvature increasing towards the terminal joints, the integument of the whole of the flagellum consisting of a congeries of minute hexagons, the edges of which are all raised, and the whole resembling shagreen; the legs have the usual sexual slighter and extended development, and are necessarily less setose; it is also deficient in the transverse whitish bands of decumbent hair upon the abdomen, which is more densely pubescent on the first and second segments; and the four terminal joints of the posterior tarsi are conterminous with their plantæ.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. longicornis, Linnæus. 6-7 lines. (Plate VI. fig. 2 ♂♀.)

longicornis, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus derives its name from the great length of the antennæ in the male,—εὖ, good or great, κέρας, horn. The name of the genus is usually given from some female characteristic, or from a peculiarity common to both sexes, or irrespective of any direct application, but here we find it deduced from a feature exclusively masculine. Instances of the first class we see in Colletes, 233Halictus, Andrena, Dasypoda, Panurgus, Saropoda, Ceratina, Cœlioxys, Chelostoma, Heriades, Anthocopa, and Apathus; of the second class we have Prosopis, Sphecodes, Macropis, Anthophora, Nomada, Melecta, perhaps Epeolus, according to Latreille’s idea, Stelis, Anthidium, Osmia, and Bombus; the third class comprises in our series merely Cilissa, and in this series the male characteristics that have suggested the name are just as few, being limited to the present genus. But the males among the bees exhibit in many cases strong and striking peculiarities which distinguish them from their partners. Exclusively of the general distinction expressed in their organic difference by the possession of one additional joint to the antennæ and one more segment to the abdomen than is exhibited in the females, we find in many cases in these two parts of their structure very marked singularities. Great sexual differences in the length of the antennæ are not restricted to the present genus; in fact, in most of the genera, this is the first striking feature, but which becomes conspicuously so in some species of Sphecodes, in most of the Halicti, in some Nomadæ, in Chelostoma, Osmia, Apathus, and Bombus. In Eucera and Sphecodes, each joint of the flagellum is slightly curved, and in the former the surface of those joints appears compounded of hexagons. In Chelostoma the antennæ, besides being longer than in the female, are also very much slighter and slightly compressed, and have a structure capable of curling upon itself; in the female of this genus the organ is clavate; and in Osmia, besides their length, in one species the male has a fringe of hair attached to one side along the whole of the organ. In other cases, where the antennæ are not remarkably longer in the 234male they have extra development by becoming thicker, as in Melecta; and in Megachile the terminal joint of their antennæ is laterally dilated and compressed. In scarcely any case are they geniculated at the scape in the male, as they are in the female. The other genera with clavate antennæ have the same structure in both sexes, as in Panurgus and Ceratina. Remarkable peculiarities in the terminal ventral segment or segments of the male may be found most conspicuously developed in Halictus, Cœlioxys, Anthidium, Chelostoma, Heriades, Osmia, Apathus, Bombus, and Apis. In Cœlioxys and Anthidium, and some of the Osmiæ, this sex is further furnished with a series of projecting spines, processes, or serrations at the apex of the terminal dorsal segment. In Chelostoma, the ventral structure of the male is very singular, the apex being adapted to a mucro at the base which permits the insect to curl up this portion of the body similarly to its antennæ, the furcated extremity of the abdomen fitting, when thus folded, upon the mucro. It is as well to draw observation to these peculiarities, which give additional interest to the study of the group.

The genus Eucera appears in May and June. In some parts they are found in large colonies; although I have seen them abundant I never found them in this gregarious condition, and I have usually discovered them frequenting loamy and sandy soils; they burrow a cell six or eight inches deep, form an oval chamber at its extremity, which as well as the sides of the cylinder leading to it they make extremely smooth, and by some process prevent its absorbing the mixture of honey and pollen which they store for the supply of the larva, and each contains but one young one. These, having full fed, lie in a dormant state throughout the winter and 235do not change into pupæ until mid-spring, and speedily transform into the imago, which, until fully matured, is closely in every part and limb covered with a thin silky pellicle, wherein it lies as in a shroud, but at its appointed time, regulated by some influence of which we have no cognizance, active life becomes developed, it then casts off its envelope and comes forth to revel in the sunshine, in close companionship with a partner which its instinct promptly teaches it to find. The largest of our native Nomadæ is its parasite the N. sexcincta, and which seems wholly restricted to it, but which is often even rare in places where the Eucera abounds. The female, like those of the rest of the bees, is no time-waster, but flies steadily to and fro in her occupation of provisioning her nest, and the male often accompanies her in these expeditions, gallantly winging about with extreme velocity as if to divert his sedulous companion in the fatigue of her toil, by his evolutions and his music, which is very sonorous. And on a fine May day it is extremely pleasant in a picturesque situation to sit and watch the operations of these very active insects. In their recent state, when just evolved from the nidus, they are very elegant, being covered with a close silky down, which labour and exposure soon abrades. It is said that this bee deserts her nest when she finds the stranger’s egg deposited on the provender laid up in store, or when she meets with the Nomada within, which sometimes lays two eggs in one cell. To this she does not deliver battle, as does the Anthophora to Melecta, but patiently vacates the nest, leaving it to the service of the parasite, which is also supposed to close it herself, having been caught with clay encrusted upon her posterior legs. For the accuracy of this supposition I 236cannot vouch, never having observed the circumstance, nor have I seen reason to abandon the idea that the parasite has no instinct for labour of any kind,—the presence of the clay being, I expect, merely accidental, for it is notorious that these insects have an overruling predilection for keeping themselves extremely clean.

†† With three submarginal cells to the wings.

Genus 11. Anthophora, Latreille.

(Plate VI. fig. 3, and Plate VII. fig. 1.)

Apis ** d, 2 a, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, nearly as wide as the thorax; vertex depressed; ocelli placed in a curved line upon its posterior margin; antennæ short, subclavate, basal joint of flagellum globose, its second joint longer than the scape, very slender, the rest of the joints subequal; face flattish; clypeus protuberant; labrum quadrate, convex; mandibles distinctly bidentate and obtuse; cibarial apparatus very long; tongue very long, transversely striated, and with a small knob at the extremity; paraglossæ about one-third the length of the tongue, acuminate; labial palpi slender, more than half the length of the tongue, membranous, the basal joint as long again as the remainder, the second joint very slender and very acute; the two terminal joints very short and subclavate, inserted before the extremity of the second joint; labium short, one-fourth the length of the tongue, its inosculation concave; maxillæ hastate, not so long as the tongue; maxillary palpi one-third the length of the maxillæ, six-jointed, the basal joint very robust, the rest filiform, the second the longest, 237and all the rest decreasing in length and substance. Thorax oval, densely pubescent, which conceals its divisions; metathorax truncated; wings with three submarginal cells, closed, the second receives the first recurrent nervure in its centre, and the third, which bulges externally, receives the second at its extremity; legs setose, the exterior of the posterior tibiæ and plantæ moderately so, and the interior of the latter also densely setose; the second joint of the posterior tarsi inserted beneath and within the termination of their plantæ; the claw-joint longer than the two preceding; claws bifid, the inner tooth distant from the external. Abdomen ovate, subpubescent, the fifth segment densely fimbriated and the terminal segment with an emarginate appendage.

In the MALES the antennæ are very similar, but the mandibles are more acutely bidentate, and with the exception of the form of the legs, the general aspect is like the female; the legs, although setose, are less conspicuously so, the intermediate tarsi in the first section of the genus being longer than the rest of the entire leg, and are fringed externally with very long hair, or it is restricted to the plantæ of that leg and then it is short and very rigid; the entire limb stretched out extends beyond the widest expansion of the superior wings. The ABDOMEN is also less retuse than in the female, at its basal segment.

In the second division of this genus, of which Anthophora furcata may be considered to be the type, the general habit is precisely the same, but the insects are not so pubescent, and there is a greater similarity between the sexes. The intermediate legs also, although long in the male, are not so extremely long as they are in the first section.

238NATIVE SPECIES.

§ Males with elongate tufted intermediate tarsi, and differing from female in colour.

1. retusa, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 6 lines. (Plate VI. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

Haworthana, Kirby.

Haworthana, Curtis, viii. 357.

2. acervorum, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 6-8 lines.

retusa, Kirby.

§§ Males without elongate tufted intermediate tarsi, concolorous with their females.

3. furcata, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 5-6 lines. (Plate VII. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)

furcata, Kirby.

4. quadrimaculata, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.

vulpina, Kirby.

subglobosa, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The name ἄνθος, φὼρ φωρὸς, flower-rifler, would be as suitable for any other genus of bees, and therefore may be classed with those names which have no explicit signification.

The two divisions which our native species of this genus form, might very consistently constitute two genera, differing so much as they do both in habit and habits. In the first section the males totally differ from their females, the latter being black and the pubescence of their partners fulvous, and whose intermediate legs are so much longer, and are decorated besides with tufts of hair upon their plantæ, neither peculiarity being found in those of the second section, which conform 239more regularly to the ordinary type of structure. The first section also nidificate gregariously, forming enormous colonies which consist of many hundreds; whereas the second are solitary nidificators, and at most half-a-dozen may be found within as many square yards of territory, and one species, the A. furcata, diverges considerably from the ordinary habits of the genus, and closely approaches those of the foreign genus Xylocopa, but its structure necessarily retains it within the boundaries of the genus. All these insects exhibit the peculiar characteristic of the Scopulipedes, in the insertion of the second joint of the posterior tarsi at the very bottom of their plantæ, conjunctively with the polliniferous scopa, placed externally upon their tibiæ and plantæ, in which characteristics the Andrenoid Macropis remarkably resembles them, and which I have noticed in my remarks upon that genus.

The first section burrows in banks, where their colonies are extremely numerous. In the tunnels which they form they construct several elliptical cells which they line with a delicate membrane of a white colour, formed by a secretion or saliva derived from the digestion of either the pollen or the honey which they consume. Each cell when formed is stored as usual, and the egg deposited, and then it is closed. There is but little variation in these processes among all the solitary bees, excepting in the case of the artisan bees and the more elaborate processes of Colletes, in which, however, the casing is merely thicker, arising from several layers of the coating membrane. The perfect insects make their appearance during the spring and summer months, their successive maturity being the result of the previous summer and autumn deposit of 240eggs. They pass the winter and spring in the larva state, and undergo their transformations into pupa and imago with but slight interval, and only shortly before the appearance of the perfect insect. When first presenting themselves they are certainly very handsome insects, and if carefully killed preserve their beauty for many years in the cabinet. I have found the retusa, Linn., (Kirby’s Haworthana,) in enormous profusion at Hampstead Heath, indeed, so numerous were they, that late in the afternoon, upon approaching the colony, they, in returning home, would strike as forcibly against me as is often done by Melolontha vulgaris or Geotrupes stercorarius. In equal abundance I have found the A. acervorum at Charlton, where I have experienced a similar battery. This is the insect which Gilbert White, in his letters from Selborne, describes as having found in numbers at Mount Caburn, near Lewes, a spot I have often visited in my schoolboy days. This section is subject to the parasitism of the genus Melecta, whose incursions are very repugnant to them, and which they exhibit in very fierce pugnacity, for if they catch the intruder in her invasion they will draw her forth and deliver battle with great fury. I have seen both the combatants rolling in the dust, the combat and escape made perhaps easier to the Melecta by the load the Anthophora was bearing home. Upon the larva also of this bee it is said that the larva of the Heteromerous genus Meloë is nurtured; this I have never been able to verify, but I believe the fact is fully confirmed. This beetle is closely allied to the Cantharides, or blister-beetles, and it itself exudes a very acrimonious yellow liquid when touched or irritated. Two of the Chalcididæ also infest their larvæ, which they destroy; one is 241the Melittobia, named thus from its preying upon bees; it, like the majority of its tribe, is exceedingly minute, and of a shining dark green metallic colour. It is peculiar from having its lateral eyes simple, and in possessing besides three ocelli. The other genus is Monodontomeris, an equally small insect, which, although living upon the larva of Anthophora, is equally preyed upon by that of the Melittobia. The universal scourge, Forficula, is a great devastator of these colonies, where, of course, it revels in its destructive propensities.

The insects of the second division I have never been able to track to their burrows, but have always caught them either on the wing or on flowers, especially upon those of the common Mallow, and I have found both species all round London. They are said also to frequent the Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum). The A. quadrimaculata burrows in banks, and its processes are scarcely different from those of the preceding species, only its habits are solitary. In flight it is exceedingly rapid, and thus much resembles Saropoda. But the A. furcata bores into putrescent wood, in which it forms a longitudinal pipe subdivided into nine or ten oval divisions, separated from each other by agglutinated scrapings of the same material, very much masticated, the closing of each forming a sharp sort of cornice; each of these cells is about half an inch in length, and three-tenths of an inch in diameter, the separations between them being about a line thick. These pipes or cylinders run parallel to the sides of the wood thus bored, an angle being made both at its commencement and its termination, and thus the latter permits the ready escape of the developed imago nearest that extremity, which being the first deposited, that cell being the first constructed, it 242necessarily becomes the first transmuted, and thus has not to wait for the egress of all above it.

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, 243about 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.

1. bimaculata, Panzer. ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines. (Plate VII. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)

bimaculata, Kirby.

rotundata, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The name of this genus is as applicable to the subsection 244as to the genus itself, σάρος, brush, ποûς ποδὸς, a foot, in allusion to their polliniferous posterior legs.

We have but one species, but it is very characteristic; for, although retaining several of the features of the second division of Anthophora (in the colouring of the face it participates with the males of both divisions), yet has it still a marked physiognomy of its own; it retains the normal colouring of bees generally, but its strongest distinction from that division of Anthophora is the shortness of the antennæ in the female, as in the length of the intermediate legs of the male it would seem to form a link between the two divisions, could a distinct genus stand in such a position, and would almost import the necessity of elevating that division to generic rank, as hinted at in the observations under Anthophora. In the large development of its claws it seems to point to an economy somewhat differing from that second division, but nobody appears to have traced it to its nidus. I have often captured it at Battersea upon the Mallow, together with A. quadrimaculata, but the singular velocity of its flight might indicate a very distant domicile,—in a few minutes it could traverse miles. The electrical vivacity and rich opaline tint of its eyes has been often observed, but this, unfortunately, fades with death; yet so marked is it that it has called forth the distinct observation of a Panzer and a Kirby. Besides the Mallow it has been observed to frequent the Heaths, and were its habits better known would be found, I have no doubt, to visit many other flowers, for Curtis took it in the Isle of Wight sleeping in the great Knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa. I have never caught it laden.

I have hazarded the conjecture in a different part of this work that the music of the bees might be attuned 245to a musical scale by associating the different species in the due gradation of their varying tones. Here we have one of the most musical of the tribe,—not a monotonous dull sleepy hum, but a fine contralto, the very Patti amongst the bees. But it is rapidity of motion which in them intensifies the note they chant, and the velocity of the flight of this insect is something remarkable. They dart about with almost the rapidity of a flash of lightning, and this swiftness of approach and retreat modulates their accents.

Under the head “Macropis” I have pointed to some strong resemblances between this genus and that.

Genus 13. Ceratina, Latreille.

(Plate VII. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)

Apis ** d 2, a, Kirby.

Gen. Char.: Head transverse, convex, glabrous; ocelli placed in a triangle on the vertex, which is, as well as the face, convex; antennæ short, subclavate, each inserted in a separate deep cavity in the centre of the face, the first joint of the flagellum globose, the second the longest of all and slender at its base, but all gradually enlarging to the extremity; clypeus very gibbous; labrum quadrate, convex; cibarial apparatus long; tongue long and tapering, and with a minute knob at its extremity; paraglossæ obsolete; labial palpi three-fourths as long as the tongue, the two first joints membranous and diminishing in width, the second joint rather shorter than the basal one and acute at its extremity, and externally before its termination the two very short terminal ones are inserted; labium half the length of the tongue, 246with a lozenge-shaped inosculation; maxillæ as long as the tongue, broad at the base, whence it abruptly acuminates to the slender apex; maxillary palpi six-jointed, filiform, the three first joints subequal, the three terminal gradually decreasing in length. Thorax oval, glabrous; prothorax inconspicuous; mesothorax with a central basal groove, the bosses conspicuous and shining; scutellum and post-scutellum lunulate; metathorax subtruncate; wings with three submarginal cells and a fourth slightly commenced, the second in the form of a truncated triangle, the third considerably larger than the second, and each receiving a recurrent nervure just beyond the centre; legs plumose but not densely so, the hair very long within the posterior tibiæ, but denser and shorter on its exterior; the posterior plantæ also plumose, and all the joints of the posterior tarsi conterminous; claws bifid. Abdomen glabrous, subclavate, very convex above and flat beneath, subtruncate at the base, and the basal segments slightly constricted.