234 CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



with food, consisting of honey, pollen, &c. Pupa changes 

 in a silken cocoon, which the larva spins in its cell. Imago 

 with antennae composed of twelve joints in the female, thir- 

 teen in the male, slightly elbowed at the second joint ; eyes 

 somewhat reniform, the indented portions facing each other ; 

 ocelli three ; upper wings folded longitudinally ; podeon 

 slender, but short; eighth segment largest, both as to length 

 and breadth. Live commonly in societies composed of 

 three kinds of individuals, males, females, and abortive fe- 

 males : inhabit all climates and all situations, building in 

 the ground, or suspending from branches or amid the twigs 

 of trees, large and somewhat circular nests, composed 

 of a material much resembling whity-brown paper : in these 

 the combs are arranged horizontally in several tiers. Ves- 

 pa 9 Eumenes, Odynerus, Epipone. 



Carpenter-bees or Osmiites. Larva an obese, inactive 

 maggot, deposited as an egg in the midst of a semi-fluid 

 substance, composed of honey and pollen, collected by its 

 parent, and stored in cells which are constructed for the 

 purpose, mostly in timber which is going to decay. Imago 

 with antennae twelve-jointed in the female, thirteen-jointed 

 in the male ; they are slightly elbowed at the second joint, 

 which is much longer than the others ; the blade of the 

 maxillae is elongate and somewhat falcate ; the maxillary 

 feelers are minute, and generally composed of six indistinct 

 joints'; the labium has its ligula variously developed ; it is 

 always trilobed, but the central lobe, though always elon- 

 gate, varies in the proportion it bears to the labial feelers ; 

 the lateral lobes are very minute, short, and acute ; the la 

 bial feelers have the basal joint long, the second longer 

 the third and fourth short, somewhat conical, and forming 

 an angle with the second ; the hind tibia are not formed 

 for collecting pollen, but the body of the female is clothed 

 beneath with a thick covering of hair, which serves for 



