Varieties of the Honey-Bee. 377 



pends its combs from the branches of trees, without any out- 

 ward protection. This, I am informed by Sir John Hearsey, is 

 also the habit of A. dorsata in India. This species varies greatly 

 in the coloration of the abdomen. I have seen the following- 

 varieties : — 



a. Head and thorax black ; abdomen yellow, with the apex 



more or less dusky ; the anterior wings brown, palest at 

 their posterior margin. {Apis dorsata, Fabr.) 



b. Like the previous variety, but with the wings hyaline. 



India. 



c. Black, with only the two basal segments of the abdomen 



yellowish red. [Apis bicolor and A. zonata.) 



d. Varies in having the three basal segments of the abdomen 



reddish yellow, and a band of white pubescent pile at the 

 base of the fourth and fifth segments ; anterior wings 

 brown. Timor. 



e. The head and thorax black, and clothed with pale pubes- 



cence; the abdomen and legs entirely pale testaceous; 

 wings hyaline. (A. testacea.) Borneo and Timor. 



I have added a mark of doubt to the synonym A. nigripennis 

 because I do not feel quite satisfied of its being distinct from the 

 next species. I have seen examples of a black Bee from the 

 Philippines which may prove to be a climatal variety of A, dor- 

 sata : it has not the ocelli so large as the next species. 



Sp. 2. Apis zonata, Smith, Proc. Linn. Soc. iv. 8, 9 . (Celebes.) 

 Apis dorsata, Gerst. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1843) xi. 344, nee Fabr. 



■ This species is entirely black; it is the largest at present 

 known of the genus; it is 9 lines long, whilst the A. dorsata I 

 never found to exceed 7\ lines. The abdomen, in all the speci- 

 mens that I have seen (nineteen or twenty), is very convex above, 

 and is adorned with a band of snow-white, short pubescent pile 

 on the basal margins of the third, fourth, and fifth segments ; 

 these bands are continued beneath. Dr. Gerstacker considers 

 this species as an extreme variety of A. dorsata ; but in this I 

 cannot agree. The size, colour, and convexity of the abdomen 

 are. different, in addition to which I find a difference in the form 

 of the metatarsus ; the ocelli are proportionally larger, and the 

 face is not pubescent. These may be regarded as slight dif- 

 ferences ; but, as I have already remarked, the specific distinc- 

 tions among the workers of the different species of Honey-Bees 

 are always extremely slight. The capture of the other sexes 

 will, no doubt, decide this question; but I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that A. zonata will prove to be a good species. 

 Ann. if Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol xv. 25 



