1907. Johnson. — Notes on Irish Hymenoptera. 245 



Sphecodes gibbus, L-— Poyntzpass. 



6. subquadratus, Smith.— Poyntzpass. 



Halictus rubicundus, Christ.— Armagh, Iyoughgall, Poyntzpass; 



Loughbrickland. Co. Down. 

 H. cylindricus, F.— Armagh ; Richhill, Co. Armagh. 

 H. albipcs, Kirby.— Lough gall. 



The species of Sphecodes and Halictus are solitary bees ; the females 

 hibernate, and in the spring each makes a burrow in a bank or other 

 suitable place, makes her cells, and lays her eggs; they are often found 

 in large colonies, but each nest is separate. 

 Andrena albicans, Kirby— Loughadian, Co. Down. 

 A. rosae, Panz.— Poyntzpass 

 A. cineraria, L.— Poyntzpass. 

 A. Cwynana, Kirby.— Armagh. 

 A. Iapponica, Zett.— Poyntzpass. 



A. fucata, Smith.— Armagh. 



The species of Andrena are subject to the attacks of two parasites — 

 Stylops, which enters the bee in the larval state and causes various dis- 

 tortions of the insect, and the larva of Meloe, or the Oil Beetle, which in 

 its early stages is a small six-legged, yellow, or rarely black grub, 

 which, when a bee visits the flower on which it has placed itself, clings 

 to the bee, and is thus conveyed to its nest, where it devours the eggs 

 of the bee, and then subsists on the food provided by the bee for its own 

 larvae. 1 A. cineraria is the earliest of these bees to appear in the spring; 

 it is conspicuous by its white pubescence, and may be seen settling on 

 roads or footpaths in the sunshine. A. Iapponica, Zett, has not, as far as 

 I know, been previously recorded from Ireland; in fact, it is a recent 

 addition to the British list, having been brought forward by Mr. E. 

 Saunders on specimens taken in Kent. 2 It has since been taken in 

 Scotland, North Wales, and several localities in England. 3 

 Nomada altcrnata, Kirby.— Armagh, Tanderagee, Poyntzpass. 

 N. ruficornis, L. — Armagh. 

 N. borcalis, Zett.— Armagh, Poyntzpass. 



These little bees are wasp-like in colouring in most species. They 

 belong to the inquiline (or cuckoo) genera, of which there are several 

 among this section, but, unlike most of these genera, Nomada does not 

 resemble its hosts, which, nevertheless, never seem to molest it. 

 IYIegachile ccntuncularis, L. — Armagh. 

 Bombus venustuSj Smith. — Armagh. 



B. agrorum, F.— Coolmore, Armagh, Poyntzpass. 

 B. Iiortorum, L. — Armagh. 



B. Iapidarius, L. — Coolmore, Armagh, Poyntzpass. 



1 Fowler, British Coleoptera, V., 94. 

 3 Ent. Mo. Mag., xxxv., 1899, p. 262. 

 a Ent. Mo. Mag., xlii., 1906, p. 202. 



