- ,-.-- . 



.i:. 



Section I. Aptr of tkr Body red. 



B. lapiilariiu (female), black. The male u rather long and narrow; 

 head and anterior aud posterior portion* of the thorax yellow. 



ThU specie*, well known by the name Red-Tailed Bee, is one of the 

 largest and commonest of the genus ; the females are to be seen in 

 the spring and summer mouths ; in the autumn, when the males 

 make their appearance, they are less common. 



B. Jtaielltu (female). Smaller and shorter in proportion than the 

 st, from which it 

 on the hinder tibia*. 



. . 



last, from which it may moreover bo disti 



rter in propor 

 nguished by ha 



ving red hair 



B. DerkomtUtui, colour ashy-brown. Thorax and abdomen each with 

 a black fascia. Most probably the male of the hut described. 



B. lulinJrrmptiu (female), black. Anterior portion of the thorax 

 yellow; abdomen with a subinterrupted fascia of the same colour 

 towards the base. 



B. Pratorum, black. Anterior portion of the thorax yellow. 



B. BtumUaxta (male), yellow. Thorax with the central portion 

 black ; abdomen with a black fascia near the middle. 



B. Cullumania (male). Like the last, but the fascia of the abdomen 

 is very narrow, occupying only one segment. 



B. Donotantlliu (female), black. Thorax with the anterior portion 

 yellow ; abdomen with the basal portion yellow. In the male the 

 anterior portion of the thorax is obscurely coloured. 



Section II. Apex of the Abdomen while. 



B. terrain*. Thia is the largest and moat common of the yellow 

 and black Humble- Bees. It baa the anterior margin of the thorax 

 and the segment next the basal one of the abdomen of a yellow or 

 buff colour ; the rest of the body in black, with the exception of the 

 apex, which is sometimes of a dirty yellow colour and at others white. 



The neuters of all the species are very variable in size, but in this 

 there appears to be the greatest extreme ; we have specimens which 

 are scarcely as large as the common hive-bee. 



B. Jluriorum, black. Thorax with the anterior and posterior 

 portions yellow ; abdomen with the base yellow ; rather less than the 

 preceding species. _ 



B. TunilaUaaiu (female), ulack. Thorax with the anterior aud 

 posterior margins narrowly edged with yellow. 



The insect described by Kirby under the name of Latreillrlla 

 has lately been discovered by Mr. Pickering to be the male of thia 

 species. It is of a pale yellow colour, with the central portion of 

 the thorax and two indistinct fascia: towards the base of the abdomen 

 black. 



B. Jonrlliu (male), yellow. Thorax and abdomen each with a 

 black fascia. 



B. lucorum (male), yellow. Thorax with the central portion black; 

 abdomen with the two. basal segments yellow, and the two following 

 black, the remainder white. 



Section III. Ground-Colour of the Body yellow or buff. 



B. Mutcorum, yellow. Thorax orange. 



B. Jloralii, yellow. Abdomeu with a black apot on each side of 

 the second segment, the three following segments with their bases 

 black. 



B. Brcl-icliheViu, pale buff colour. Thorax and apox of the 

 abdomen reddish yellow, the latter with a black fascia in the middle. 



B. CurtutUiu. Like the last, but the abdomen is black, with the 

 base of reddiah-yellow. 



B. FotlereUtu. Thorax buff coloured, with the anterior port 

 blackish ; abdomen with three obscure black fascia?. 



(Observation. We have reason to believe the last four to be varieties 

 of the same species.) 



//. NV/I-.D-KMI. yellowish- white. Thorax with a black fascia ; abdomen 

 with two black fascia; ; the apex red interspersed with white. 



M- fragrant, bright yellow. Thorax with a block fascia. 



< if the above species, B. terrei/ru and Lapidariut are the largest. 

 B. fragrant, TuiulnlJaniu, and Hurtorum, are the next in size. All 

 the rest of the species are nearly of a size, with the exception of 

 B. Pralurum. 



liabits and economy of these insects ire not less interesting 

 than other members of the order Ilyinenoptera. 



In the autumnal mouth*, when the cold weather begins to be felt, 

 and the various honey-yielding flowers disappear, the male and neuter 

 Humlile-Bees die, having performed their allotted task, which as far 

 as we can discover, appears to be that of fecundating certain pi mt ., 

 by conveying the pollen from the male to the female flowers : a task 

 which is unavoidably accomplished by their visiting different flowers 

 for the purpose of collecting honey ami pollen to rear their young. 

 Some female Mumble-Bees also die, whereas others (probably those 

 only which had been reared in the previous summer) seek a con- 

 venient spot in which they may pass the winter as little exposed to 

 the cold as possible ; sometimes in rotten wood of old pollard trees, 

 and sometimes in moss, or among dead leaves, or in fact in almost any 

 situation which will afford the desired protection. Here they remain 

 in a torpid state aud without food. The warmth of the spring causes 

 these females again to make their appearance, and having been 

 impregnated the pr.-viiM autumn, they seek a convenient spot 

 wherein they may construct their nests. Grassy banks are the locali- 



ties most frequently chosen for this purpose, but various situations, 

 and even a difference of soil apparently, are selected by the different 

 species of Humble-Bees; for we observe certain species abounding 

 more in one situation than another, and that in places distant from 

 each other but similar in character. The nests are sometimes built 

 upon the ground, but most generally they are in a hole excavated by 

 the bee. These excavations vary in depth and form, oven though 

 made by the same species of bee. In their construction the animal 

 uses it* jaws to dislodge the particles of earth, which are then, by 

 means of the anterior pair of legs, passed backwards to the hinder 

 pair, which perform the same office : but as the burrow becomes 

 deeper, the whole body of the bee is used to eject the grains of soil 

 In saying that the Humble-Bees form the burrows in the ground in 

 which we find them, we speak upon the authority of Reaumur, for 

 although we have frequently observed the female bee conn 

 removing particles of earth, apparently with intent to uiake such on 

 excavation, upon returning to the same spots after a sufficient interval 

 of time, the work was always abandoned. Huber, who paid much 

 attention to these insects, says, "I have not discovered in what manner 

 they excavate the holes which lead to their nests, nor do I know how 

 they form the vaults in which they are placed, neither am I aware 

 whether they always construct these vaults themselves, or whether 

 they do not sometimes avail themselves of the holes made by moles 

 or other animals." Upon consulting some other authors, these 

 points appear to be treated of in too vague a manner. When a small 

 cylindrical but generally tortuous gallery is formed, it is terminated 

 by an arched chamber of considerable extent, and it ia in thia cham- 

 ber that the neat ia constructed. Those species which do not burrow 

 in the ground choose a situation in which the herbage is sufficiently 

 thick to afford shelter, and there form on the surface of the ground 

 an arched chamber of moss thickly matted together. In what manner 

 the female first commences the interior arrangement of her nest, and 

 how she brings up her young whilst in her solitary state, Huber and 

 some of the earlier authors did not ascertain. We are indebted to 

 M. le Comte Saint-Fargeau for this portion of the present history. 

 This author informs us that having collected a quantity of pollen and 

 honey, these substances are formed by the female humble-bee into a 

 ball, in which the egga are deposited, so that when the eggs are 

 hatched the larvae ore surrounded by the substance, which serves 

 them both for food aud protection. The balls generally contain 

 numerous eggs, and consequently when these are hatched numerous 

 larvsc. Reaumur found them to vary from three to thirty. Keh 

 larva feeding upon the food nearest to it, the original crust of their 

 enclosure becomes thin, and the parent insect then takes care to add 

 fresh alimentary paste to the weakest parts. When the larvso are 

 full grown each one incloses itself in a silken cocoon of an oval form 

 and placed always in a perpendicular position. A certain numlx-i- ..f 

 neuters, or workers, having undergone their final transformation, the 

 nest is enlarged, and an inner coating of wax is attached to it, and 

 in those nests which are constructed with moss the particles of wax 

 are so amalgamated with it that a portion of the moss cannot be 

 removed without injuring the interior more or less. Wax is also 

 used by the workers in the construction of little cells for the reception 

 of honey. Each species of Humble-Bee makes these cells, as Huber . 

 informs us, in a different manner ; some construct them on the top of 

 the cocoons, and of a half oval form ; others build them of an egg- 

 shape, with the apex truncated. In some again they resemble the 

 first, but have a ring of wax within the top. The next variety is 

 almost a perfect oval, having but a small opening at the apex. 

 Lastly, these Humble-Bees show, says Huber, "that they are not 

 inferior to the hive-bee in the art of economy. Hit ween four honey- 

 pots there would necessarily be a vacant space ; but this is occupied 

 by a fifth reservoir, which is not of the same form as those by wln.li 

 it is surrounded, but sometimes approaches to a square," Ac. As an 

 instance of the intelligence of -these bees, Huber relates that wlim ;i 

 bee is prevented from obtaining the honey at thn bottom of the 

 flower by the tube of the corolla being too narrow and deep, iliey 

 drill a hole with their proboscis through the calyx anil corolla right 

 into the tube, and in this manner tap the vessel containing the liquid 

 of which they are so fond. 



The male Humble-Bees are not reared till late in the season, and 

 do not appear in any abundance till the autumn. As in the cose of 

 the hive-bee therefore, they take no part in the duties of rearing the 

 young, which it appears are almost entirely under the protection of 

 the neuters as soon as they are hotel,. .1. 



When the nest is tolerably well peopled, it presents a mass ol 

 cocoons spun by the larva! as before described; intersperse, 1 with 

 w iii.-li there arc numerous masses of on irregular but generally some- 

 what rounded form, and of a brown colour : some of the largest are 

 about the size of a small walnut Each of these masses incloses 

 either eggs or larvae, and is composed of pollen mixed with honey. 

 To these must be added the little honey-pots which are irregularly 

 interspersed with the cocoons. 



li'iMMYTID.K, a family of Insects of the order lepidopltra, 

 belonging to the section ,i nocturna of Latreille, or Moths. 



The principal characteristics of this family are their possexxing only >S 

 rudimentary maxilla;, remarkably small palpi, and bipeotmated / 

 antenna;. 



