276 APIS. (**. c. 2. I) 



of which he says, " J'hesite presque ^ donner le 

 nom d'antcnnes a deux cornes qui s'clevent en de- 

 vant de sa tete, car elles ne sont pas flexibles(/) :" 

 words which clearly allude to the remarkable horns 

 which the female carries upon its forehead. It is 

 rather singular that no Entomologist should have 

 befoi3e discovered this insect to be synomymous 

 with u4. bicornis. This great naturalist is the only 

 author that has given any account of the mode of 

 nidification of this species (^). It is not easy to 

 ascertain what is the use of the horns with which 

 the head of the females is armed, but it is probable 

 that they assist her in the construction of her cells. 

 Rossi has described another species distinguished 

 by the same peculiarity (A), of which Panzer has 

 given a figure (/). I am not sure that my variety /3 

 may not be a distinct species; but as it differs 

 in nothing from a but the shape of the horns, I 

 have not ventured to separate them. The larger 

 males {^. vernnlis, Forster) appear early in the 

 spring ; one of these, upon a very windy day in 

 March, once amused me much by flying round 

 me for some time, and at length alighting upon 

 me. Upon variety /3 1 found, in great numbers, a 

 very small uicarus, the same which Reaumur in- 

 forms us he took upon ji. violacea. It was a 

 hexapod with two long hairs in its tail, which seem- 



(/) Tom. 6. Mem. 3. p. 86. (g) Vol. 1. p. 181. Reaum. 6. 

 Mem. 3. p. 85, 86. {k) A. comigcra. Fn. Etrusc. n. 925. 



(i) Fu, lui. Germ. Init. n, 55. tab 15. 



