Social Insects. 63 



the East. Some modification has doubtless talven pliice in the tropicul jiarts 

 of America but the subject has not yet been sufficiently studied in those 

 countries. 



Note 2. — The Species of Apis with their Varieties. 



(1) Apis mcUiJica, L. as indicated in Note I, is found in all the coun- 

 tries of Europe, and extends over the whole of Asia Minor into the 

 Syrian Desert and south into Arabia. It occupies all the islands of the Med- 

 iterranean and has spread throusih all the northern countries of Airica 

 southward into the ])esert of Sahara. South Africa has one or two vai'ieties 

 belonging to the species, while the representatives of the genus foimd in 

 Senegal and the Congo country doubtless belong to this s]»ecies, as do those 

 of Madagascar. ]t lias been permanently introduced into Australia, Tasma- 

 nia, New Zealand and many of the islands of the Pacific ocean. Whether 

 the honey bees reported from northern India belong to this species or not , 

 has not been definitely ascertained. It is also more than i)robable that the 

 honey bee of Chma, described under the name of Apif! sinensis, is but a 

 variety of this species. In North and South America it is evi(iently intro- 

 duced, and has spread into some of the adjacent islands. There is a difier- 

 ence of opinion as to whether the honey bee native to I]gypt, which Latreille 

 describes as J/rt.s./Wmr/^rt, should have specific rank or be regarded as a 

 variety of mdlifica. While Erederick Smith, who was one of our best author- 

 ities, was inclined to attribute to it specific value, the tact that it interbreeds 

 with mellifica, producing fertile ofisj)ring, would rather confirm the opposite 

 view. Respecting the honey bees of Tasmania, Senegal, the Congo and 

 Madagascar, our information is insufficient to permit us to say whether they 

 are specifically distinct or not, and the same may Ije said of the Hazara, 

 Bhootan, and r>ushar bees of northern India and other more or less distinct 

 types found in .lajian. 



(2) Api.'< indicd Eabr. The extent of territory occupied by this small East 

 Indian bee is not definitely known, although it has been definitely reported 

 from northern and southern India, Ceylon, Earther India and Java. Ajns 

 nigrocinda; A. socially, Latr. ; A. delesserti Guer.; A. perrotfeiii Guer. and 

 A. peronii Latr. are probably only varieties of A. inclica. 



(o) Apisfiorea Eabr. This, the smallest bee of India, is found generally 

 in .southern India and Ceylon, and there are indications, that it is common 

 to other portions of the East Indies. Apislolxita described by E. Smith in 

 his first catalogue, is dropped from the second edition. 



(4) Apis dorxidd Eabr. 



=nigripenniii Latr. 



=bicolor King. 



=testacea. 

 It is somewhat questionable whether the names here given as synonymous 

 are such, or names of true varieties of f/o/'.svfta. A. dorxala, known as the 

 Giant ]*]ast Indian Bee, is found in British India, Ceylon, Earther Intliaand 

 the Dutch p]ast Indies. 



(5) Apix :(iit((ta Guerin. Found in the Philippine Islands and Celebes. 

 Mr. E. Smith enumerated this as worthy of specific rank, when he revised 

 his catalogue in 1S7(). He referred to its greater size and diiference in form 

 of the metatarsus compared with that of ,1. durndta. But Gerstaecker as- 

 serted in 1865 that this difference in structure of the metatarsus does not 

 exist — is " purely imaginary ". 



Mr. Erank Benton, to whom I am under obligations for valuable infor- 

 mation on this subject, has kindly prepared for me the following table as 

 indicating his own ideas of the grouping of the species of Apis, and the 

 known varieties of these. 



