Theue are about 80 British species of this well-known genus, 

 of which we have upwards of 50 named in our own cabinet : 

 most j)erfect descriptions are given of them in the 2nd vol. of 

 the Monographia Apum Anglia; ; the following have been 

 tietected and named by Mr. Kirby since the publication of 

 his valuable work, viz. Andrcma Hallana, fiilvescejis, albe- 

 scens, Spencella, and Yeatella. The reader will also find an 

 account of the habits and economy of this group in the 1st 

 A'olume, p. 141 of the same work, of which we shall here avail 

 ourselves. " The species of this family usually nidificate 

 under-ground in a light soil, some choosing grass banks over 

 which bushes are scattered, others bare perpendicular sec- 

 tions, but all seem to delight in a south aspect. They exca- 

 vate cylindrical burrows from five inches to near a foot in 

 depth, and of a diameter sufficient only for the Melitta 

 [Andrcna) to go in and out at. When they make these holes, 

 they remove the earth grain by grain, which forms a small 

 hillock near the mouth; they sometimes run in a perpendi- 

 cular, and at others in a horizontal direction. The cell at 

 the bottom of these burrows they replenish with pollen made 

 into a paste with honey, and in this they deposit their eggs. 

 The pollen they carry not only upon the scopa of their pos- 

 terior tibiae, but also upon their flocculus, and the hairs of their 

 metathorax." — The student will be well rewarded in collecting, 

 by visiting the Sallows when in flower as early as April ; and 

 as the males and females are exceedingly different, he should 

 take care to discover if possible the sexes, — many species are 

 attached at later periods to syngenesious and other flowers. 



The rare insect figured was in the collection of the late 

 Mr. M. Griffin of Norwich, and was probably taken in the 

 neighbourhood of that city : it now enriches the cabinet of 

 Mr. Stephens, with whom I unite most cordially in naming it 

 after the gentleman to whom we are so greatly indebted for 

 our perfect knowledge of this interesting family. 



I feel great pleasure also in introducing a drawing of Mes- 

 pilus Cotoneastey\ which I am enabled to do through the kmd- 

 ness of my friend Professor Henslow, who has obligingly com- 

 municated specimens, and the following account from W. 

 Wilson, Esq. of Warrington, Lancashire, who discovered 

 it last year in Wales. " The surface of the Orme's head is 

 broken into cliffs and ledges, and upon these cliffs the Mespilus 

 grows. It is most abundant within half a mile of the village 

 ot Llandidus, but occurs, though much more sparingly, in 

 other parts; and I have seen it at the N.W. extremity of the 

 head. It is indisputably indigenous. The Orme's head con- 

 sists of limestone." 



