76 



HYMENOPTERA. 



fining myself to such as live upon British species. These 

 parasites may be divided into distinct races; first, such as 

 feed upon the provision laid up for the larva of the future 

 bee ; secondly, such as prey upon the larv^ themselves; and, 

 thirdly, those which are found upon the perfect insect, and 

 lastly I may briefly notice such as prey upon the parasites 

 themselves. 



One set of parasites which prey upon the food stored up 

 by the bee have been called cuckoo-bees, and certainly, in one 

 respect, they merit the appellation ; they never construct 

 nests of their own, but deposit their eggs upon the food laid 

 up by the provident and industrious species, but I am not i 

 inclined to the belief that the working bee also deposits her 

 egg upon the same food; no hostile feeling appears to exist 

 between the bee and its parasite; and I believe the latter, ! 

 watching its opportunity, and at length finding a store suited | 

 to its own purpose, deposits its egg and then closes up the I 

 cell ; I am led to adopt this opinion from the circumstance of ' 

 having found, on the tibia? of these parasites, masses of clay, 

 or sometimes of the gummy secretions of plants, the purpose i 

 of which, in my opinion, was for closing up of the cell in ' 

 which they had previously deposited their egg. ; 



The following is a list of such parasites,"and the species ' 

 which they attack, as I have myself observed :— I 



Epeolus variegatus on Colletes Daviesana. ' 



Nomada varia on Halictus ruUcundus, \ 



„ furva on „ morio. \ 



„ solidaginis on „ ahdominalis. \ 



„ jacohce(B on Andrena fulvicrus. \ 



„ ruficornis on „ niyrocBnea. \ 



„ lateralis on „ longipes. 

 „ haccata on „ argentata. I 



„ or/irosttma on „ lahialis. 

 „ horealis on „ Clarkella. : 



