APIS. 5o7 



c? . More stoutly built, head and thorax more pubescent ; ev(!s 

 very large, meeting on the vertex, the ocelli placed on the front 

 above the base of the auteuni© ; posterior tibiae smooth and shining 

 externally, convex and narrowed at base ; the basal joint of the 

 tarsi broad, in one species produced below into a remarkable lobe ; 

 abdomen very wide, cylindrical, obtuse at apex. 



The communities consist of males, a single female or queen, and 

 the workers. Tbe economy of the honey-bee is too well known to 

 need much notice here. Within our limits only three species of 

 true A2)is occur. So far as my observation goes A^ns dorsatu, 

 Eabr., the largest of the three species, in its wild state builds its 

 combs exclusively more or less in the open — that is to sav, on the 

 undersides of the branches of large trees, in caves or under over- 

 hanging rocks, in buildings, &c. This is the large bee that when 

 disturbed attacks men or animals. A2ois indica, on the contrary, 

 very frequently chooses hollow trees to build in. In Burma, where 

 the houses are built chiefly of wood, I have more than once seen a 

 house rendered nearly uuinhabitable by a swarm of A2jis indica 

 taking possession of the hollows under the wooden staircases, or 

 between the outer walls when these were built double. 



The smallest species of the genus in India, A2)is forea, is not 

 nearly so plentiful in Burma as are the other two species. I have 

 seen very few nests ; one was built in a cane-bush not more than 

 a few inches from the ground ; another under the eaves of the roof 

 of a forest bungalow. 



No species of honey-bee is domesticated by the Burmans. In 

 the Himalayas A2ns indica, which is closely allied to A. mellifera, 

 is, I believe, the bee usually kept for its honey and wax. 



Home (Trans. Zool. Soc. vii, pp. ISl-lS'I) gives much interesting 

 information in regard to the three species of bees found in India, 

 their parasites, habits, &e. 



KeTf to the Species. 



a. Of large size. ^ length 16-18 mm A. dorsata, p. 557. 



b. Smaller. ^ length 11-12 mm A. indica, p. 558. 



c. Still smaller. § length 8 mm A.Jiorea, p. 559. 



981. Apis dorsata. (PI. IV, fig. 11.) 



Fiibr. Ent. Syst. ii, p. 328; Smith, Cat. ii,p. 415; Home, Trans. 



Zool. Sue. vii, p. 181, pi. 22, fig. 3 ; Dall. Ton: Cat. x, p. 589. 

 Apis bicolor, Kluff, Mag. n. Entd. ges. Naturk., Berlin, i (1807), 



p. 264, pi. vii, fig. 3. 

 Apis nigripennis, Lepel. Hym. i, p. 403. 

 Apis testacea, Smith, Jour. Linn. Soc. ii (1858), p. 49. 

 Apis zonata, Smith {nee Gucr.), Jour. Linn. Soc. iii (1859) p. 8. 



^. Head, thorax, and abdomen with short pubescence, more or 

 less sparse or dense according to locality ; the head and mesonotum 

 finely punctured under the pubescence ; a short, medial, vertical 

 groove below the anterior ocellus. Head, thorax, legs, and apical 

 three segments of the abdomen black, more or less pale and 

 fuscous oil the hinder part of the thorax and on the abdomen ; 



