THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 257 



nest it never returns to it, but observation proves ihis opinion 

 to be erroneous ; tbc liabit of Bonibus lialreillcllus is diame- 

 Irically opposed to it : at that time in the autumn when the 

 males and females appear, if the burrow leading to a nest of 

 this species be watched, a nuniber of males will be observed 

 flying about the entrance, and they will be seen occasionally 

 to re-enter : these males are waiting the exit of the females ; 

 no sooner does one of that sex issue forth than a number of 

 the males start off in eager pursuit of her. Shuckard states 

 that female humble bees assume a variety of seductive ways 

 to allure the males, settling on leaves, vibrating their wings, 

 and otherwise courting the attention of the other sex : such 

 a mode of procedure is diametrically opposed to my own 

 observation, not only of the genus Bombus, but of the species 

 composing the entire family of the Apida3. My own expe- 

 rience teaches me that it is the habit of all female bees to 

 endeavour to escape the pursuit of the males. The hive-bee 

 is pursued by a host of males, out of which only one would 

 appear to copulate with the female : I possess a drone and a 

 queen that were observed to drop, in copula, on to the path- 

 way of a garden, in which state tliey were sent to me by a 

 relative ; the female was alive, but the drone was dead, 

 when they came into my hands. The common spring bee, 

 Anthophora, will be observed flying from flower to flower, 

 the male in constant chase of the female, the latter apparently 

 ever anxious to outstrip her partner by flight. The sexes of 

 Anthidium will also be frequently observed one chasing the 

 other ; indeed I cannot recall a single instance of a contrary 

 habit. The copulation of the sexes of the Bombi is a cir- 

 cumstance only to be observed at rare intervals. 



The Bombi are the largest and handsomest bees found in 

 this country ; but the most beautiful species are those of 

 Chili, India and Mexico : Bombus ha)n)orrhoidalis and B. 

 orientalis, from India, and B. Dahlbomii, from Chili, are 

 much larger and more brightly coloured than atiy of our 

 native species ; but B. formosus is perhaps the handsomest 

 of the genus. 



Mr. Kirby states that he knew " no fiimily of which it is 

 more difficult to distinguish the species than the present:" 

 this is true, but the males arc much more subject to vary in 

 coloration than the other sex ; but the difficulty in the latter 



