APATHUS VESTALls. 259 



Found occasionally near London, and in other 

 parts of England, first appearing pretty early in the 

 spring. It is said to fly for the most part near the 

 earth. 



APATHUS RUPESTRIS. 



PLATE XVIII, Fig. 3. 



Apis rupestris, Fab. Kirby^s Monog. Ap. ii. 369. Apis lapi- 

 daria, Var. Brunn. Prodrom. Insectol. Sieland, PI. 19. Apis 

 subterranea, Geoff. Hist. Ins. 2, PI. 416, n. 20. 



THE resemblance of this false humble-bee to B. la- 

 pidarius is so great, that it is not surprising they have 

 been frequently confounded. The present species 

 measures fully an inch in length, so that it must be 

 regarded as the largest of our indigenous bees. The 

 body is entirely black, the three last segments of the 

 abdomen clothed with yellowish-red hairs. The 

 head and thorax are very hirsute, the abdomen like- 

 wise very hirsute on the sides, but more sparingly 

 clothed on the back ; shape of the abdomen ovate- 

 oblong ; legs black and hairy ; wings ample, longer 

 than the body, the colour smoke brown, approaching 

 to black, arid the substance intermediate between 

 corium and membrane. 



Frequent in the vicinity of London, and also in 

 many other parts of England, but seemingly not 

 generally distributed. We have noticed it in Scot- 

 land, but only on one or two occasions. 



