3 52 fAMILI^. {Melitta. *. a.) 



which point out their body, are reddish brotvn 5 

 between these are others, some inclining to red, 

 and others to brown. The cells are composed of 

 many layers of a very thin and transparent mem- 

 brane ; the red colour arises from the substance 

 with which they are replenished ; this is sometimes 

 nearly liquid, at others it is merely a paste made of 

 pollen and honey. After the larva is hatched it 

 soon imbibes all that is liquid, and when arrived at 

 its full dimensions, it quite fills its cell : it resem- 

 bles the larva of the hive bee. Whence these bees 

 procure the membrane with which they form their 

 cells our author could not ascertain, but he con- 

 jectures it to be a secretion of the insect analogous 

 to what is used by many others for similar purposes." 

 Thus far Reaumur. 



Grew seems to have met with the nidi of one of 

 these bees in a singular situation ; the following- 

 are his words. " Another sort of wild bee with 

 their bags. They are about half an inch long, of 

 a cylindrical figure, very thin and transparent like 

 the inner coats of the eye, admirably placed for 

 warmth and safety ; sc. lengthways one after 

 another in the middle of the pith of an old elder 

 branch, with a thin boundary betwixt each bag. 

 The little bees are somewhat thicker than the 

 flying ant, and their bellies marked with four or 

 five white rings {t)" 



(J) Grew's RaritieSj § 7. c. i. p. 154. 



Willughby, 



