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HYMENOPTERA. 



Observations on Hymenopterous Papers which 

 have appeared during the year 1859, with 

 Notes on the Capture oe Rare Species which 

 have occurred during the same period. 



By Frederick Smith. 



The year 1859 will be characterized in my calendar, as 

 having been remarkable for the scarcity of Hymenopterous 

 insects. I do not recollect any season parallel with it in that 

 particular ; whether this has been the case generally I am 

 not prepared to say, since in this country, the number of 

 Entomologists who take an interest in the Hymenoptera is 

 so small, that it is quite an impossibility to obtain the requi- 

 site information. 



Were I to limit my observations to a record of the cap- 

 ture of new species, a single paragraph would suffice for that 

 purpose ; but, estimating the capture of rarities, although un- 

 doubtedly important and interesting, as belonging to a class 

 of facts of minor importance, I naturally seek to ascertain 

 what more solid advantages have accrued in elucidation of 

 the natural history of the order Hymenoptera. If a tithe 

 of the ardour, perseverance and enthusiasm, brought to bear 

 in the search after novelties, were applied to the investigation 

 of the habits of the insect world, and to imparting the results 



