HYMENOPTIORA 183 



is black, spotted, and banded with yellow, from which we are all glad to 

 take " warning," for the sting of a hornet is painful and the nest contains 

 thousands of individuals. The queens are larger than the workers. It 

 may be interesting to know that the males have no sting. They may 

 be further distinguished from the other forms by having seven segments 

 in the abdomen instead of six. 



The social wasps do not store up food, but continually feed the young 

 throughout the larval stage, whicli lasts from eight to fifteen days, with 

 partially masticated insects. Tlic adults " fc* d ujwn insects or decompos- 

 ing animal substancv^s (fish csix'cially attracts tluiii) and upon exposed 

 sweet sub.stanc:'s, such as syrups and pn's,T\i' I Fruits." 



Bees may be distingiuslied from all oIIk r 11\im( tioptera by their en- 

 larged and tiatt:ii;'(l tarsal segments, wliicli, except in the I n'(/i/iJint >:. are 

 provided witli an an-augemcut for carr^ip,!!; ]>(il!> ii. It is said tliat the 

 hairs (at least on the head and thorax) are l)ranched nr i)luiii()se, as re\ealed 

 by the microscope, while those of all other Hymeni>]!t( la arc simple. 



The nests of bees are always provided with jxiUeii or lumey, or both. 

 The larvi3e when cjuite young are fed by a substance called " bee-jelly," 

 regurgitated by the nurse workers; for the bee colony, like those of other 

 Hymenoptera, consists of three forms: the workers, the males or drones, 

 and the female (queen). 



The short-tongued bees (Andrcn'ichr) are all either solitary or grega- 

 rious, none social. Some of the mining bees, genus Andrena, are almost as 

 large as the honey-bee workers. In grassy fields they sink a perpendicular 

 shaft into the ground sometimes to the depth of a foot or more, which 

 branches off sidewise to the cells. Though each nest is solitary, the females 

 often build close together. 



The smallest of our bees (Hulic'tus) burrows in sand-banks or cliffs. 

 Several females unite to " make a burrow into the bank, after which each 

 female makes passages extending sidewise from this main burrow or 

 public corridor to her own cells. While .1 //<//■, 'mi builds \illages composed 

 of individual homes, Halidus makes cities com])f)se(l of ajiartment houses."^ 



The long-tongued bees (A'pidce) have the lower lip highly specialized 

 for obtainiuii nectar from flowers. The basal segment of the labial palpus 

 is also elongated. Some of this family are solitary; others, guest-bees; 

 a few, social. 



Among the solitary long-tongued bees is Megachi'le acu'ta, a carpenter 

 and leaf-cutter, which, if it does not find a convenient crevice or cavity 

 rea<ly made, tunnels out a tubular cavity in wood and builds a thimble- 

 shaped nest at the bottom out of oblong pieces of leaves which it cuts out 

 for itself, and fills it with a paste of pollen and nectar. The egg is then 

 placed upon this food and the opening tightly plugged up with circular 

 pieces of leaves. 



The little blue carpenter bee {Ccrat'ma r/w/pZa) builds its nest in dead twigs 

 of sumach or in the liollows of other i)laiifs. The female fills the bottom of 

 the nest with ]M)ll(>n, lays ati egg upon it, and makes a partition al)ov<" the 

 egg out of pith chips made in forming the tunnel. She coiiliiiue^ making 

 these cells until the tunnel is nearly full, then she rests in the s|)ace al)o\e the 

 last cell and waits until the yoimg are grown. When the first one is 

 ready to emerge, it tears down the i)artition above it and waits till each one- 

 has performed tiie s.ime process, when they are led by the mother into the 

 open air. Comstock says it is (he only instance he knows of a solitary 



1 Comstock, p. 666. 



