PIONEERS OF COMMUNAL LIFE 



especially among the smaller forms, which are timid, and will not 

 attack an enemy. Most of them, however, fall without hesitation 

 on anyone who attempts to open their nest, forcing their way angrily 

 into his eyes, nose and ears, crawling under his clothing, and in 

 particular rooting and burrowing into his hair, buzzing and singing 

 the while, for which reason the Brazilians call them "Hair-twisters," 

 torce cabellos. Their attentions are so bewildering that the would-be 

 robber generally beats a retreat. But there are species which bite as 

 they attack, smearing the body all over with a resinous substance, 

 and biting off the hair. The "Bora" is such a bee. 



Even away from their nests the Brazilian bees can be troublesome. 

 Some species settle on human beings in order to 

 suck the perspiration which flows so readily in the 

 tropics ; others, known as "Eye-lickers," prefer to 

 fly into one's eyes, and are consequently extremely 

 troublesome. These last are tiny bees, barely a 

 twelfth of an inch in length ; they are the smallest 

 bees in the world (Fig. 25). 



Others have an unpleasant odour of resin, or 

 even of carrion, while there are some which smell 

 like roses, and the Limao bee exhales a strong ^r^ ^ 



scent of lemons. Fm. 25. — Stingless 



The Brazilian bees are on the whole smaller Brazilian Bees. 



Above,theUrussu. 

 In the middle, the 

 Irapuan. Beneath, 

 an "Eye-licker." 

 (All shown in their 

 natural size) 



than the European species; the forms most fre- 

 quently found are about the size of a house-fly. 

 The body is commonly black ; many are black all 

 over, while others have yellow bands on their 

 abdomens, interrupted down the median line. 

 The various species bear names which the first settlers took over from 

 the Indians, and which allude for the most part to their honey and 

 their mode of life. In the Indian language Ira means "honey" ; 

 and this word is combined with all manner of nouns, adjectives 

 and adverbs to make names for girls; and even to-day many a 

 pretty Brazilian girl is adorned by such a name as Iracema (Honey- 

 lips) or Iracy. 



The commonest bee in South America is the aggressive and 

 pugnacious Irapuan (Fig. 25). "Apuan" means "round," and refers 

 to the nest, which hangs on the bough of some forest tree like a 

 great dark ball. The Urussu bees (Fig. 25), which were common 

 in the garden at Olinda, build in hollow trees, and the Cupiras in 

 termitaries (the Termites are known as Gupim). The bees which 



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