FAMILItE. (Jpis. **, e. 2.) ^Qf 



tantur, ciimque maturuere, ut ita dicam, et debi- 

 tam perfectionem et partium soliditatem assecutse 

 sunt, disrupto aut exeso folliculo Apum forma pro- 

 deunt. In folliculos unde ApiculcC evolafunt mel 

 congerunt(c)." 



I know no family of which it is more difficult to 

 distinguish the species than the present ; for there 

 is little difference in the form of the Bomhinatrices, 

 and the hue of their bodies, at least of all our Eng- 

 lish ones, is the same, so that the describer must 

 rely almost solely upon the colour of their hirsuties 

 for his characters, and this is so subject to vary, 

 even in the same individual, in different periods of 

 its existence, that it is not safe to depend upon it 

 but under particular restrictions. An insect re- 

 cently disclosed, in this respect, appears a different 

 species from the same when it has been long ex- 

 posed to wind and weather. Thus, for instance, 

 j4. Muscorum, which, when fresh from the pupa, 

 is distinguished by a thorax covered with hair of a 

 fine orange colour, and by an abdomen whose coat 

 is a rich yellow, when it grows old, especially the 

 male, exchanges these brilliant colours for a cine- 

 reous hue, which circumstance misled Fabricius to 

 give it as a distinct species, under the name oi A, 

 senilis. But not only yellow and red, but even black 

 and white hairs are apt to change their colour 

 through age. All these circumstances make it a mat- 

 ter of some importance, to be able to distinguish a 



(c) Ray. Hist, Ins. p. 246-/. 



recent 



