168 THE RING OF NATURE 



there is usually a grub feeding on it, perhaps the 

 grub of the rightful owners, but perhaps that of 

 one of the cuckoos that victimize the bee. 



If we search very carefully, and armed with a 

 police description previously supplied, we may 

 find the doyen of all the bee-cuckoos, one that is 

 got up with an almost complete resemblance to 

 its host. The host is Bombus virginalis and the 

 cuckoo Apathus campestris. A parallel description 

 from the South Kensington catalogue will give 

 some idea of their similarity : 



B. virginalis A. campestris 



Densely clothed with The pubescence black, 



black pubescence, the collar with the thorax anteriorly 



orange-yellow ; wings sub- and the scutellum clothed 



hyaline, their apical mar- with yellow pubescence ; 



gins clouded. Abdomen wings fusco-hyaline. Ab- 



the second segment with domen shining, the fourth 



bright orange-yellow pu- and fifth segments with 



bescence, that on the third yellow pubescence later- 



and fourth black ; on the ally, 

 apical segments it is ful- 

 vous yellow. 



The mam description is followed in each case 

 with the details of several varieties, for humble- 

 bees are by no means constant to type. That 

 our nest will show, whether or no we find therein 

 a specimen of Apathus, the apathetic or unfeeling 

 cuckoo. Some are queens, some workers, some 

 drones or males. We can find out which are the 

 latter by getting stung by the other two and 



