482 SYNOPTIC COLLECTION. 



season. In the autumn the males and workers die, while 

 the females leave the nest and hibernate in sheltered 

 places till spring comes, when they found new colonies. 



Apidae. There are solitary bees like Prosopis (PI. 

 1235, P. signatus) which are much less specialized than 

 the social bees. The body is nearly naked. The probos- 

 cis is short and the hind pair of legs are not modified but 

 are similar to the other two pairs. These bees are either 

 male or female, like most other insects, and like the soli- 

 tary wasps they do not live to care for their young. 



There are also semi-social bees like the humble bee, 

 Bombus americana (No. 1236). The female of this genus, 

 like that of the generalized wasps, makes and provisions 

 the nest, consisting of a few cells, lays the eggs, and cares 

 for the young until enough workers have grown to per- 

 form the necessary industrial labor of the little colony ; 

 then she, as queen, devotes herself to one special occupa- 

 tion, that of egg-laying. It is interesting to note that the 

 workers of this genus are slightly differentiated from the 

 females, and it would seem as if here we had an evolu- 

 tionary stage between the wholly undifferentiated female 

 of the most generalized bees and the extremely modified 

 worker of the specialized genera. The colony of Bombus 

 survives only one season ; a few females hibernate and 

 start new colonies in the spring. 



The most social of all bees is the domesticated honey 

 bee, Apis mellifica Linn. (Nos. 1237-1248). The larva 

 (No. 1237) is a soft colorless and footless grub. While 

 this is true of the larva, as one sees it, it has been found 

 that legs arise very early in larval life and grow in the 

 interior of the body, but their development is suppressed 

 so that the young bee has no functional legs. 



The mouth parts are small and weak, since the food is 

 of a pasty nature and the larva is supplied with it by cer- 

 tain adults specialized for the purpose. It is extremely 

 nutritious, consisting of pollen, the vitalizing male ele- 

 ment of plants, and of honey, the nectar of flowers that 



