60 BEES AND WASPS [OH. 



spearhead in shape; (iii) a long, band-like tongue 

 whose sides are parallel for a considerable distance 

 and then converge so as to taper off very gradually 

 to a point. The short pointed tongue is further 

 associated with a cylindrical shape in all the joints 

 of the labial palps (Andrenidae) ; whereas in those 

 bees (Apidae) which have long tongues the basal 

 joints of the labial palps form, as it were, sheaths on 

 either side of the tongue, the apical joints only being 

 cylindrical. A complete description of the several 

 portions of the mouth apparatus would lead us 

 into deeper technicalities than the present occasion 

 warrants: the accompanying figures (figs. 9 and 10) 

 will, however, show their general relations. 



The forked-tongued Bees. 



Of the two hundred, or thereabouts, species of 

 bees found in Britain, only seventeen possess the 

 short, forked tongue. These are placed in the two 

 genera Colletes and Prosopis \ the former genus 

 receives its name on account of its members lining 

 their cells with a gluey material; while the name 

 " Prosopis " refers to the conspicuous white markings 

 on the faces of the male bees of that genus. With 

 one, and that a rare, exception all the British species 

 of Colletes are covered on the head and thorax with 

 brownish hair, and the abdominal segments have 



