INSECT LIFE IN INDIA. 667 



in which the larvae are placed, but are fed by the workers very much 

 in the same way that nestling birds are fed by the parents. The 

 food is honey and pollen mixed in proportions which vary for different 

 species ; the honey seems to be specially suitable to the young larvae as 

 those bees which make closed cells place on the top of the mass of 

 food a layer consisting principally of honey which layer is first consumed 

 by the young grub. The larva reaches its full size in a very short space 

 of time but rests for a more or less prolonged period before transforming 

 into the pupal stage. The pupa shows the antennae, wings, legs, &c, 

 of the perfect insect very distinctly, the development of the latter being 

 quick. Some larvee spin cocoons, others do not. 



There are a large number of parasitic bees, i.e., bees which lay their 

 eggs, either one or more, in the cell of a working bee of a 

 different species. The larvae developing from these eggs grow more 

 rapidly than those of the host and so cause the latter to die of starva- 

 tion.* In some cases the parasitic larva ends by consuming the grub it 

 has robbed before pupating. 



The classification or grouping of the bees is in an unsatisfactory state. 

 It will be sufficient for our purpose hereto consider the following groups : — 

 The Parasitic bees (Denudatse), Carpenter bees (Scopulipedes), Mason 

 and Leaf-cutting bees (Dasygastres) and the Social or Colonial bees 

 (Sociales). 



The Parasitic Bees (DENUDAT.E) are long-tongued solitary bees 



with no pollen-carrying apparatus. 

 They lay their eggs in the cells of 

 other bees and often have a great 

 resemblance to their hosts. Amongst 

 those known in India are Stelis 

 parvula and S. cornida, the latter 



Fig. 57.-^«0o™**«-A Parasitic being shown in Fig. 57. Kothingis 

 Bee (Rangoon). known of their habits. 



The SCOPULIPEDES include the Carpenter bees (Xylocopa), long- 

 tongued solitary bees which are not parasitic. The genus Xylocopa 

 contains many of the largest and most powerful of the bees and is well 

 represented in India. They are usually black or blue-black in colour 

 (some species in India have a brilliant canary-yellow thorax, whilst 

 others have bright, yellow and red abdomens), of broad robust build, with 

 * Bertrand, Bull. Mus. Paris, i. 1895, p. 38. 



