OF ACULEATE IIYMENOPTEEA. 113 



Turkey, Egypt, India, and in some of the islands of the Eastern 

 Arcliipelago. 



Of the extensive genus Polylia about sixty species have been 

 described ; but only three are of the Old World — two being from 

 China, and one from Africa. In Brazil these insects abound to 

 a degree that no one, without visiting that country, can form 

 any approximate idea of; many species are of minute size ; and 

 the nests constructed by them are amongst, if not, the most 

 beautiful examples of insect architecture. The range of the insects 

 of this genus in America is almost entirely tropical ; none have 

 been found in North America. The Wasps composing the genus 

 Chartergus, whose pasteboard nests are so well known, are also 

 tropical, being principally foimd in Brazil. The genus Nectarinia 

 is composed of honey-gathering wasps ; they are principally found 

 in Brazil. 



Having taken a cursory view of the geographical distribution of 

 the principal genera of the Eormicidse, the Eossores, and the Ves- 

 pidae, it will be equally desirable to treat the family ApiDiE in the 

 same brief, but we hope instructive manner. The Bees most 

 nearly allied to the VespidaB, taking the form of the tongue as the 

 principal guide in arrangement, are those included in the genus 

 Colletes. This genus has a wide geographical range : the species are 

 found throughout Europe, in the Canary Islands, in Egypt, at the 

 Cape of Good Hope, in Chili, Columbia, and North America ; no 

 species has yet been found in India, China, or in the Eastern Archi- 

 pelago. Two or three very closely allied genera are found in Au- 

 stralia and New Zealand. 



The genus Prosopis, which belongs to the same subdivision as 

 Colletes, the Obtusilingues, is of universal occurrence : many fine 

 species occur in Australia, in India, North and South America, 

 and also in Africa. 



The extensive genus Halictus, of which about one hundred 

 species are described, is confined principally to temperate regions ; 

 they are found throughout Europe, in North America, in Northern 

 India, and also in North China. In tropical India, and indeed 

 throughout the Eastern Archipelago, this genus is represented by 

 a very closely allied one, namely the genus Nomia ; in South 

 America and Brazil it is replaced by the genus Augochlora, — the 

 latter genus containing some of the most brilliantly coloured spe- 

 cies to be found in the family of the Apidse : green of every shade, 

 fiery copper, purple, and burnished gold are the colours which 

 principally adorn these beautiful insects. A few species of the 



