Chapter XVIII: Section 1: Solitary (1)

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 the 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.

GENERAL 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 of 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_).

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b. _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 the 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_, _Halictus_, _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 male 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 do 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 cannot 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.

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†† _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, and 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.

NATIVE 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 more 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 eggs. 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 the _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 necessarily 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.

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Genus 12. SAROPODA, _Latreille_.
(Plate VII. fig. 2 ♂♀.)
APIS ** _d_, 2, a, Kirby.

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

The MALE scarcely differs, excepting in the characteristic sexual disparities of slightly longer antennæ, and considerably longer intermediate tarsi, whose apical joint is very clavate.

NATIVE SPECIES.

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 as to the genus itself, _σάρος_, _brush_, _ποῦς 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 to 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.

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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, with 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.

The MALE scarcely differs, excepting in the _clypeus_ being less gibbous, the _legs_ not plumose, and the sixth segment of the _abdomen_ carinated in the centre towards its extremity, and impending over the seventh, which is transversely gibbous, then depressed, and with an obtuse process at its extremity.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. _cærulea_, Villers, ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines. (Plate VII. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)
_cyanea_, Kirby.
2. _albilabris_, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 2½ lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus is named from the presence of a little horn between its antennæ, _κερατίνη_, _a horn_. Some foreign entomologists, especially Latreille and Le Pelletier de St. Fargeau, have considered it to be parasitical, but that it is not so we have the authority of the Marquis Spinola, of Genoa, confirmed by the testimony of Mr. Thwaites, a very accurate observer, in the vicinity of Bristol, where the insect is not at all uncommon, although extremely rare in most other parts, and consequently usually a desideratum to cabinets, from its great beauty both of form and colour, notwithstanding that it is so very small in size. It has also been found in other localities, as at Birchwood, where the late Mr. Bambridge used to take it, and as near London as Charlton, at both which places I have no doubt it might frequently be found were it carefully looked for, but the practised entomological eye is often wanting to detect an insect unless it be conspicuously present. Its usual nidus is a bramble or briar stick, from which it excavates the pith, and this it has been frequently observed doing, and both sexes have been repeatedly bred from such sticks. We have no notice of any peculiarity in its mode of forming its cells, which may resemble that of such wood-boring genera as _Chelostoma_ and _Heriades_, although its structure would intimate a closer affinity to the habits of the exotic genus _Xylocopa_; nor is there extant any account of the process or time occupied in the development of its young. Spinola’s notion, from not seeing the sufficiency of the hair upon the posterior tibiæ for the purpose, assumed that the pollen was conveyed home on the forehead and between the antennæ, he having caught an insect with some pollen accidentally incrusted there in the insect’s honey-seeking excursion. The hair upon these legs is very sparse, it is true, but then it is very long, and the quantity of pollen required for the nurture of the larva is evidently small, from its having been observed that the store upon which the egg is deposited is semi-liquid, thus preponderating in the admixture of honey.

That it has not been caught laden with pollen upon its legs has no weight against the fact of its non-parasitism, for it is not always that the excursions of bees are made for the purpose of collecting pollen. Honey is as necessary to their economy—and in this case perhaps more so—as pollen, and the only way to determine the fact of its carrying pollen, corroboratively, would be when knowing that one of these bees has visited a bramble stick—its presumptive nidus,—to watch the stick very patiently for the insect’s return from every journey until it came back laden; the presence of pollen upon its legs would surely be indicated by the difference of its colour from the ordinary dark hue of the little labourer.

We have already noticed bees with metallic hues among the _Halicti_, and there are slight indications of it in some of the _Andrenæ_, for instance, in the _A. cinerea_ and the _A. nigro-ænea_, etc., but in none hitherto so absolutely is it exhibited as in this genus. The prevalent colour of the bees, that is to say, the ground colour of the integument, and not the fleeting one of the pubescence, is black or brown, but here we have a positive metallic tinge, which we shall again come across in many shades and hues in the genus _Osmia_.

A second species of the genus was brought from Devonshire by Dr. Leach, and is in the collection of the British Museum, but no other specimens of the same species have since been found.

The only flower which it has been noticed that they frequent is the Viper’s Bugloss (_Echium vulgare_).

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Subsection 2. NUDIPEDES (naked-legged cuckoo-bees).
a. _With three submarginal cells to the wings._
Genus 14. NOMADA, _Fabricius_.
(Plates VIII., IX., X.)

_Gen. Char._: HEAD transverse; _ocelli_ in a triangle on the vertex; _antennæ_ filiform, scarcely geniculated, the scape short, the basal joint of the flagellum subglobose, the second joint clavate, the remainder subequal; _face_ flat, or slightly concave, carinated longitudinally in the centre between the insertion of the antennæ; _clypeus_ subtriangular, convex, deflected at the lateral angles; _labrum_ subcircular, very gibbous and protuberant; _mandibles_ acute or subbidentate; _tongue_ long, acute; _paraglossæ_ about one-fourth its length, acute; _labial palpi_ two-thirds the length of the tongue, the two basal joints membranous, the basal one as long as the rest united, and tapering to its extremity, the second joint less than half the length of the first, and not wider at its base than the apex of the first joint, and tapering like that to its end, where it is acute, the third joint short, subclavate, and the terminal one-half the length of the preceding, very slender and linear; _labium_ about one-half the length of the tongue, and at its inosculation produced obtusely in the centre; _maxillæ_ subhastate, about the length of the tongue; _maxillary palpi_ six-jointed, the basal joint short, robust, subclavate, the second the longest, and with the rest tapering in substance and diminishing in length to the extremity, the terminal joint being very little shorter than the preceding. THORAX ovate; _prothorax_ inconspicuous, or distinct and angulated laterally; _mesothorax_ glabrous, deeply punctulated; its _bosses_ conspicuous and prominent; _scutellum_ divided into two very prominent tubercles; _post-scutellum_ linear, convex; _metathorax_ with a triangular space at its base, and declining to the insertion of the abdomen; _wings_ with three submarginal cells, and a fourth very slightly commenced, the first as long as the two following, and each of which receives a recurrent nervure about its centre; _legs_ subspinose externally on the tibiæ, and not polliniferous; _claws_ of tarsi small and not bifid. ABDOMEN oval, glabrous, shining; terminal segment triangular, with its sides ridged.

The MALE scarcely differs, excepting in sometimes being more profusely adorned with colour, but this is not always the case, the female being often the most ornate. There are very slight differences in the antennæ in the sexes, which may be readily associated together.

NATIVE SPECIES.

§ _With filiform antennæ._

1. _sexfasciata_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 5-6 lines. (Plate VIII. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)
_Schæfferella_, Kirby.
_connexa_, Kirby.
2. _Goodemana_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines. (Plate VIII. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)
_? succincta_, Panzer.
3. _alternata_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines.
_Marshamella_, Kirby.
4. _Lathburiana_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-5½ lines. (Plate VIII.fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)
5. _varia_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines.
_varia_, Kirby.
_fucata_, Kirby.
6. _ruficornis_, Linnæus, ♂ ♀.
_ruficornis_, Kirby.
_leucophthalma_, Kirby.
_flava_, Kirby.
7. _lateralis_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines. (Plate X. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)
8. _ochrostoma_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines. Hillana, Kirby.
9. _signata_, Jurine, ♂ ♀. 4-5 lines. (Plate IX. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)
10. _borealis_, Zetterstedt, ♂ ♀. 3½-5 lines.
11. _lineola_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-6 lines.
_cornigera_, Kirby.
_subcornuta_, Kirby.
_Capreæ_, Kirby.
_sexcincta_, Kirby.
12. _xanthosticta_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2-2¾ lines.
13. _flavoguttata_, Kirby, ♂ ♀. 2-3 lines. (Plate IX. fig. 3 ♂ ♀.)
14. _furva_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 2-2½ lines.
_rufocincta_, Kirby.
_Sheppardana_, Kirby.
_Dalii_, Curtis.
15. _Germanica_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4 lines.
_ferruginata_, Kirby.
16. _Fabriciana_, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 3½-5 lines. (Plate IX. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)
_Fabriciella_, Kirby.
_quadrinotata_, Kirby.
17. _armata_, Schaeffer, ♂ ♀. 5-5½ lines.
_Kirbii_, Stephens.

§§ _With subclavate antennæ._

18. _Jacobeæ_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 4-4½ lines. (Plate X. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)
_Jacobeæ_, Kirby.
_flavopicta_, Kirby.
19. _Solidaginis_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 3½-4 lines. (Plate X. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)
_picta_, Kirby.
_rufopicta_, Kirby.
20. _Roberjeotiana_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 3 lines.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

This genus was named by Fabricius from the _Nomades_, a pastoral Scythian tribe, in allusion to the assumed wandering habits of the insects, and it is the fact indeed that they are usually found leisurely hovering about hedge-rows, or the banks enclosing fields, or about the metropolis or nidus of any bee upon which they are parasitical. They are the gayest of all our bees, their colours being red or yellow intermixed with black, in bands or spots; they are also very elegant in form, which is after the type of that of the most normal _Andrenidæ_, and to which they have a further affinity by the silence of their flight, and by their parasitism upon many of the species of that subfamily. From their very general resemblance to wasps in colour they are often mistaken for wasps, and are popularly called wasp-bees, although they have none of the virulence of that vindictive tribe, for although all the females are armed with stings, they are not prompt in their use, or if roused to defence the puncture is but slight. In addition to their prettiness of colour and elegance of form, they have a further attraction in the agreeable odours they emit, sometimes of a balmy or balsamical, and sometimes of a mixed character, and often as sweet as the _pot-pourri_, and occasionally pleasantly pungent. A fine string of specimens of the several species is a great ornament to a collection, but to secure this in its perfection some care is required in the mode of killing them. Their colours are best permanently retained by suffocating them with sulphur, which fixes the reds and yellows in all their natural and living purity. My method was in my collecting excursions to convey with me a large store of pill-boxes of various sizes, and as I captured insects in my green gauze bag-net, I transferred them separately to these boxes. When home again I lifted the lids slightly on one side and placed as many as would readily go beneath a tumbler, and then fumigated them with the sulphur. This is a better plan than killing them with crushed laurel-leaves, for it leaves the limbs much longer flexible for the purposes of setting, whereas the laurel has a tendency to make them rigid, and this rigidity is extremely difficult to relax, whereas the setting of those killed with sulphur, if they are kept in a cool place, may be deferred for a few days, until leisure intervene to permit it, and even then if they become stiffened they are readily relaxed for the purpose.

A division might very consistently be established in the genus by the separation of those which have subclavate antennæ, and the segments of whose abdomen are slightly constricted; these also are more essentially midsummer insects, and usually frequent the Ragwort. This is the only genus of parasites amongst the true bees whose parasitism is directed exclusively upwards in the scientific arrangement; the parasitism of all the rest of the genera of _Nudipedes_ bears upon the genera below them in the series. Some of the species of the _Nomadæ_ attack more than one species or one genus, but the majority are strictly limited to but one genus and one species. The genera obnoxious to this annoyance are _Andrena_, _Halictus_, _Panurgus_, and _Eucera_; the latter two have but one of these enemies each, the _Nomada Fabriciana_ infesting the _Panurgus Banksianus_, and the _N. sexfasciata_ frequenting the _Eucera longicornis_. Under _Panurgus_ I have alluded to the relative abundance of the parasite at the metropolis of its sitos. As far as known, the other species are thus distributed. Those frequenting several indifferently are the _Nomada alternata_, _Lathburiana_, _succincta_, and _ruficornis_, which are found to infest _Andrena Trimmerana_, _tibialis_, _Afzeliella_, and _fulva_, without displaying any choice; whereas others confine themselves to one sitos exclusively: thus _Nomada ochrostoma_ limits itself to _Andrena labialis_; _N. Germanica_ to _A. fulvescens_; _N. lateralis_ to _A. longipes_; _N. baccata_ to _A. argentata_; _N. borealis_ to _A. Clarkella_; _N. Fabriciana_ to _Panurgus Banksianus_; and _N. sexfasciata_ to _Eucera longicornis_. Observation has not yet fully determined whither each species of _Nomada_ conveys its parasitism; several infest the _Halicti_, especially the smaller species; the association of these it is difficult to determine; I have usually found several of the small _Halicti_ burrowing together in the vertical surface of an enclosure bank, and several of the small _Nomada_ hovering cautiously opposite, now alighting and entering a burrow, then retreating backwards and winging off. I lost patience in endeavouring to combine the species by the aid of blades of grass or slight straws thrust into the aperture, but the crumbling nature of the soil frustrated my wishes, and I abandoned the attempt. This field of observation is widely open to the exertions of observing naturalists, and the novelty of their discoveries would well reward the toil of the undertaking, for it would not be long before they gathered fruit.

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Genus 15. MELECTA, _Latreille_.
(Plate XI. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)
APIS ** _a_, Kirby.

_Gen. Char._: HEAD transverse, scarcely so wide as the thorax; _ocelli_ in a triangle on the vertex; _antennæ_ filiform, rather robust, and but slightly geniculated, the scape not longer than the two following joints, the second joint of the flagellum the longest and clavate, the rest short, nearly equal, and the terminal one laterally compressed at its extremity; _face_ flat, very pubescent; _clypeus_ short transverse, lunulate, convex; _labrum_ irregularly gibbous, obovate; _mandibles_ strongly bidentate; _tongue_ long, slightly expanding towards the middle and thence tapering to the extremity, and with a central line; _paraglossæ_ scarcely half the length of the tongue, almost setiform, but robust at the base; _labial palpi_ more than half the length of the tongue, the two first joints membranous and very slender, the first longer than the rest united, the second about half the length of the first, and terminating acutely, the third not more than one-fourth the length of the second, and inserted laterally before its termination, the fourth about as long as the third, and, like it, subclavate, both being more robust than the second; _labium_ not half the length of the tongue, and acutely triangular at its inosculation; _maxillæ_ subhastate, not quite so long as the tongue; _maxillary palpi_ five-jointed, about one-third the length of the maxillæ, the basal joint clavate, short, and robust; the second elongate, subclavate, the remainder gradually but slightly diminishing in substance and length, the terminal not so long as the basal joint. THORAX very retuse, and its divisions scarcely distinguishable; _scutellum_ bidentate; _metathorax_ abruptly truncated; _wings_ with three closed submarginal cells, the second the smallest, irregularly triangular, and receiving the first recurrent nervure just beyond its centre, the third submarginal considerably larger than the second, sublunulate, but angulated externally and receiving the second recurrent nervure about its centre; the _legs_ robust and spinulose, especially the tibiæ externally (where they are very convex) and the femora beneath; the _claws_ short, strong and bifid. The ABDOMEN conical, truncated, and retuse at its base, the apical segment with a central triangular plate ridged laterally, and fimbriated at its sides with strong setæ.

The MALE scarcely differs in personal appearance, excepting that its antennæ are more robust and its ornamental pubescence is more profuse, its posterior tibiæ very robust and almost triangular, and the terminal segment of its abdomen slightly emarginate and concave at its extremity.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. punctata, Fabricius, ♂ ♀. 6 lines. (Plate XI. fig. 1 ♂ ♀.)
_? Atropos_, Newman.
_? Lachesis_, Newman.
2. _armata_, Panzer, ♂ ♀. 6-7 lines.
_punctata_, Kirby.
_? Tisiphone_, Newman.
_? Alecto_, Newman.
_? Clotho_, Newman.
_? Megæra_, Newman.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Named from _μέλι_, _honey_, _λέγω_, _I collect_; which is scarcely the case, for the parasites, although they may indulge in the luxury of honey as epicures, or resort to it as a repast, cannot be said to collect it, for it is only the labouring bees that truly collect it for the purpose of storing.

These insects are extremely handsome, their ground-colour being intensely black, brightly shining on the abdomen, upon the segments of which it is laterally ornamented with silvery pubescent tufts and spots; the black legs are also variously ringed with similar silver down. The great variation these spots and markings undergo—from what cause we know not—has induced several entomologists to consider them as distinct species. But the strongest varieties so rarely recur with identical ornaments, and as almost all can be closely connected together in a regular series by interlacing differences impossible to divide, it would be certainly incorrect, without stronger characteristics, to raise such fugitive variations to specific rank. Whether the curious spines of the scutellum which they possess furnish a more certain character is doubtful, for we find all such processes equally liable to variation in size and form. What can be the uses of these spines? They can hardly be for defence, although an entomologist has said that a male which he held endeavoured to pinch by that means. We find similar processes in the same situation in _Cœlioxys_, equally a parasitical genus; but the former genus infests the _Scopulipedes_ and the latter the _Dasygasters_, whose economies are so very different, and thus it can hardly be supposed to have reference to habits. In _Epeolus_ and _Stelis_ the same part is mucronated, a tendency to which we see in the _Nomadæ_ with subclavate antennæ. Under _Anthophora_ I have given an account of the pugnacious spirit of these insects in their contests with the sitos, and it is necessary to be cautious in handling them, as they sting very severely. Our two native species are parasitical upon the two species of the first division of _Anthophora_,—those which are gregarious. The circumstance of _Melecta_ being often caught with many of the extremely young larvæ of _Meloë_ upon it seems to confirm the fact of this coleopterous insect preying upon _Anthophora_, as it may be thus assumed to prey simultaneously upon the larva of _Melecta_. I have never captured these insects upon flowers, nor can I trace what flowers they frequent, although Latreille tells us, in the name he has imposed, that they are honey collectors; but Curtis reports that he has found the genus upon the common furze or whin (_Ulex Europæus_).

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Genus 16. EPEOLUS, _Latreille_.
(Plate XI. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)
APIS ** _b_, Kirby.

_Gen. Char._: BODY glabrous. HEAD transverse, vertex convex; _ocelli_ placed in a triangle on its summit; _antennæ_ short, linear, the joints of the flagellum subequal; _face_ flat, carinated longitudinally in its centre between the insertion of the antennæ; _clypeus_ transverse, lunulate, convex, margined anteriorly; _labrum_ transversely ovate, with a small process in the centre in front; _mandibles_ bidentate, the internal tooth minute, the external robust and broad; _tongue_ rather long, more than twice the length of the labium, tapering to its extremity; _paraglossæ_ short, about one-fourth the length of the tongue, broad at the base, and acuminate towards the apex; _labial palpi_ more than half the length of the tongue, the basal joint longer than the three following, membranous, and gradually decreasing to the second, which is one-third the length of the first, and acute at its apex, where the third subclavate joint is articulated, the terminal joint considerably shorter than the third; _labium_ not more than one-third the length of the tongue, and trifid at its inosculation, the central division being hastate; _maxillæ_ subhastate, more than one-half the length of the tongue; _maxillary palpi_ consisting of one robust short conical joint inserted in a deep circular receptacle. THORAX subglobose; _prothorax_ conspicuous, with its lateral angles slightly prominent; _mesothorax_ with its bosses prominent; _wing_-scales large; _scutellum_ transverse, gibbous, margined posteriorly, slightly mucronated laterally, slightly depressed in the centre, and impending over the _post-scutellum_, which is inapparent; _metathorax_ abruptly truncated; _wings_ with three submarginal cells, and a fourth feebly commenced, the first as long as the two following, the second subtriangular, and receiving the first recurrent nervure about its centre, and the third lunulate, and receiving the second recurrent nervure also about the centre; _legs_ short, stout, the _tibiæ_ slightly spinulose externally; _claws_ very small, short, robust and simple. ABDOMEN obtusely conical, truncated at the base, its terminal segment triangular, and the lateral margins slightly reflected.

The MALE scarcely differs, excepting in the usual male characteristics, and that the apical segment of the abdomen is rounded and margined.

NATIVE SPECIES.

1. _variegatus_, Linnæus, ♂ ♀. 3-4 lines. (Plate XI. fig. 2 ♂ ♀.)
_variegatus_, Kirby.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.