HK 



UKl'OUT ON KC'ONOMIU KNTOMOI.OOY 



Fig. 44. —Apex ol' Antcnnii of MclipPHa 

 ^rvrcftrif Gribodo (enlarged) 



t)l)si'rvc(l. At this fiitrimcc scvrral nf tlusc [li^'iiiy Ixis iirc .statiunol to net as scntini'ls. 

 ,)A7iy(o/;(( _/((.<(•/(•»/.(/.( proiliici'S a |jlcii.siiiit lii|uiil lioiicy, tn tin- (xtciit of alioiit two (|uarts 

 ill inch lU'st. 



They l>itc furiously wlicii disturlMil. A large iiuiiilicr of s|iicics occur iu America — 

 Hates t'liuml no less than forty-tivi — tiie largest i)eiiig half an inch in size; tlie snuilletit 



one-twelfth of an inch, am! he says "these tiny fellows are 

 often very troublesome on account of their familiarity ; they 

 settle on one's face and hands, and in crawling ahunt get 

 into the eyes ami mouth or up the nostrils." 



The Soiitli AiMnican Siianianls call tJKiu '■Angelitos" 

 (little angels) hecau.se they do not sting. 



These Melipoiiiv^ nevertheless, cause great annoyance to 

 man. 



In a [lajx'r on Jices, liy Riley (Insect Life, Vol. VI., 

 p. HtjO) we learn that the MrH/KiiKr construct cells of a dark unctuous wax in regular combs 

 and are somewhat imperfectly hexagonal. They are, liowever. in single horizontal tiers, 

 separated and supported by intervening pillars, more 

 like the n<'sts of the social wasps, and tin- cili is sealed 

 after the egg is laid upon the stored food, just as in 

 the case of solitary bees. The honey is stored in 

 moilitieil Hask-shaped cells, -auA oidy one (jueen is 

 allowed to protluce eggs. 



Sir Alfreil Moloney, writing from British Honduras 

 to Professor Kiley in 180;^, said, " a considerable 

 industry might be locally developeil in tlie wax." 

 The species referred to was Mi'lijidim j'lixcicii/'dii, 

 Smith. 



The species from the Sudan have been named by 

 Colonel Bingham, one of the chief antiiorities on 

 Aculeate Hymenoptera, and he informs me they are 

 MelijiiiiKi Inrcciirii, Gribodo (Ann. Mus. Viv. Gni., 

 XIV., p. 840, 1871)). This bee 

 described from Abyssinia. 



There was also a single speeiuien (jf Mill/iiiini 

 nixjfoia, Mayrette (Ann. Mns. Civ. Grn., XXXIX., p. 27, 1898) 

 The structure of the hind legs is verv marked (Fig. 43). 



'^^^^^ 



Fig. 4.S.— I.ipoptera ibicis (n. sp. ?) 



Front of head yellowish brown; thor.-ix, median area 

 . . II of head, and ba-T of .ibdomen brown; rcm.iinder of 

 was originally abdomen dull yellowish or brownish, with median row 

 of shining brown patches ; legs yellowish brown. 



V yellowish brown ; n brown ; u dull yellowish 

 or brownish 



Kipopler.! 



ibici.s 



.\ I'l IH'AIIOlS DllTKUON 

 /.ijiiiji/irii 1/iirl.t, nov. sp. (?)* 

 /•'riiiiilf. Deep brown, with testaceous brown legs. Head wider than the anterior, 

 narrower than the posterior part of the thorax, deeply sunk into the thorax. Antcnnii' 

 completelv imbedded in the sucki'ts with three teriiiiii;il bristles, the me(|ian slightly the 

 longest. The two |)lates forming the sheath of the proboscis short and l>liiiit, terminating 

 in several short and two lateral long bristles; eyes narrowly oval, between them on each side 



• This m»y Ix: L. ehnleomelnun, Speis, fuuud at Sunkin, on Ibex and dtwcribcd iu 1904, but without 

 i-uiii|uiriiii; tlu' fiKit with this «|)Cfic» it is uot ijossililo to sjiy. A series in the Uritish Mnsunm from l\vx at 

 Suakiii 1i:ls uut iK'eii named. 



