109 



written in France in 1841 : this extract referred to Walckenaer, Fabricius, and La- 

 treille, and their labours in Arachnology. 



The following communication from Mr. H. W. Newman, of Stroud, was read: — 



" In the ' Proceedings ' (p. 93) I find my friend and brother member of the Soci- 

 ety, Mr. Smith, has criticised my paper on the Bombina trices, and seems to doubt the 

 veracity of the statements respecting the drones; and I do not wonder at this, for any 

 casual observer may come to the same conclusion. This very summer I have a fine 

 nest of Apis lapidaria in my kitchen-garden, at the foot of the wall, which, for the last 

 six weeks, I have watched at nearly all hours ; and though they have had a traffic of 

 the average of three per minute entering, I have never seen one male go in. 



" The wild bees are of an inoffensive character, and not in sufficient numbers (like 

 the hive-bees) to expel the males ; and the Creator has ordained that they shall leave 

 the nest voluntarily and never return, they not having the same 'organ of locality' as 

 the workers, for they make no observation like the workers : and yet they know their 

 way to flowers, and have certain haunts. I watched one of the Apis hortorum a few 

 days ago come exactly every three minutes and a half, for two hours, to two spots 

 within view, hover about them as if going to settle, and then move on somewhere 

 else. I can assure Mr. Smith that it cost me many months' observation, for a dozen 

 summers at least, before I could fathom their pastime, but at last I found it out, as I 

 believe firmly when the males of the different species leave their nests, the 'Great 

 Architect' has ordained their round of visits as an occupation. Each species has a 

 different flight, but Apis hortorum is by far the easiest to discover going its rounds to 

 the different haunts, as it flies very near the ground, and may be traced to some five 

 or six places, where it appears to stop. The other species vary their flight through 

 trees and bushes, but invariably keep the same track, generally from 10 or 11 o'clock 

 till about 3 or 4, in fine sunny weather. 



" The whole of the Bombinatrices, about the beginning of September, begin to 

 get feeble and slow ; they lose their wings in many instances, and the females, many 

 of which leave the nest, look out for dry and convenient holes in the ground and else- 

 where to pass the winter in a torpid state. 



" Now of the moving habit of the drones Mr. Smith took no notice, and yet this is 

 one of the things I thought worthy of remark. I have pointed it out to several of my 

 friends many times, and I certainly think this eccentricity of the male a curious addi- 

 tion to their true history. 



" I can assure Mr. Smith that I shall be most happy next summer to meet him or 

 any other lover of the genus, and prove the whole of this. I will only add that I have 

 made the history of these insects my study for fifty years, and have taken at least 500 

 of their nests. I have also watched their nests in the fields for days and weeks, and 

 had my observations confirmed over and over again. 



" The great Mr. Kirby has himself said ' that the Bombinatrices are in many in- 

 stances so unlike (the males and females), that they may be mistaken for another 

 species, and that unless by intense application it is quite impossible for any one per- 

 son to be perfect in the history of more than one species.' And again, ' I am by no 

 means certain that I have not, in more instances than one, described the sexes under 

 different names ; until all can be traced to their nidi this is not easy to be avoided.' * 



" Mr. Smith's ' crowning remark ' on Mr. Kirby, I cannot find in his work." 



* Kirby's ' Monographia Apum Anglian,' 208, 



