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HYMENOPTERA. 



Notes on Aculeate Hymenoptera, with some Ob- 

 servations on their Economy. 



By Frederick Smith. 



" Come with me 

 And I will show thee where the wild bee haunts, 

 And which the flower each toilsome wanderer loves." 



Of all the insect tribe, there is none whose appearance in 

 abundance, or their scarcity, is more dependant on sunny- 

 days than the aculeate Hymenoptera; many indeed, of 

 the fossorial division, are never seen excepting; on the hot 

 days of July and August. It will therefore be premised, 

 that the record which it is now our task to draw up will 

 enumerate the appearance of all, or most of the rarities of 

 the Aculeatce. The oldest living Entomologist will, we 

 presume, look back vainly — in vain will he try to recall to 

 memory a season surpassing that of 1857 ; from the earliest 

 days of spring to the final close of autumn, a succession of 

 glorious entomological days succeeded each other. We be- 

 lieve it will be acknowledged by every one, when he has 

 scanned the pages of this Annual, that such a record of 

 appearances of rarities in unusual abundance, in all orders 

 of insects, was never before compiled. We have, however, 

 only to treat upon one order of the insect world, and here 

 we meet our difficulty, that is to say, which species has not 

 appeared in abundance. The earliest bee, which harbingers 



