THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 3"21 



my observations, and says their non-parasitism " still remains 

 a debatable point :" it therefore becomes necessary to bring 

 together all the evidence with which I am acquainted, in 

 order, as far as possible, to arrive at a more satisfactory 

 conclusion. 



I have several times observed species of Sphecodes busily 

 engaged in the act of burrowing, sometimes among colonies of 

 Halicti, at other times in close proximity to the buirows of 

 those bees ; but I have also observed them so engaged where 

 no Halicti were to be found. I never observed Sphecodes 

 enter the burrows of Halictus. 



On one occasion I discovered a mixed colony of H. abdo- 

 minalis and H. Morio : intermingled with and near to this 

 I found Sphecodes subquadratus entering its own burrows ; 

 these were intermediate in width to those of the two species 

 of Halictus: I had repeated opportunities of visiting these 

 colonies, and of devoting much time to observing them. 



St. Fargeau says the species of Sphecodes are parasitic 

 upon those of Andreua, Halictus and Dasypoda ; but he 

 records no facts of observation in support of his theory. All 

 those species of bees that are not furnished with pollen- 

 brushes on the abdomen or legs were regarded by this hyme- 

 nopterist as parasites, a supposition that has long been con- 

 clusively refuted. Spinola, Thwaites and myself have proved 

 the industrial habit of Ceratina, and Prosopis has also been 

 removed from the list of parasites. 



In the month of July, 1865, I discovered a colony of 

 Sphecodes subquadratus at Birch Wood, Kent. Sixteen 

 years had elapsed since I had met with that species ; 1 was 

 therefore induced to devote a considerable time to the obser- 

 vation of their habits, as well as to securing specimens of so 

 rare an insect. Several pairs were captured in copula, and 

 females wei-e captured in the act of entering and issuing from 

 their burrows. This colony was isolated : no species of Ha- 

 lictus or Andrcna was observed near to the colony of Sphe- 

 codes. Two or three specimens were taken in the act of 

 turning up the earth at the mouth of their burrows. 



Dr. Sichel has published an elaborate paper on the habits 

 and specific distinctions of the genus Sphecodes in the 'An- 

 nals of the Entomological Society of France' for 1866, in 

 which he states that he observed them working at their nests 



