SOLITARY BEES. 



507 



filled the burrow with its cells. Having thus completed its 

 labours, the bee closes the burrow with a stout cover of earth. 



Of the genus to which Halidus quadristrigatus belongs, there 

 are many English species, Mr. F. Smith having described twenty- 

 six species, one of which is the smallest species of bee that is 

 found in this country. As the habits of all the British species 

 are alike, it may be inferred that the life history of the genus 

 is tolerably similar all over the 

 world. The present species 

 inhabits the warmer parts of 

 Europe, but has never been 

 seen in England. 



Mr. Smith found that in the 

 spring the females appeared, 

 and abounded until midsum- 

 mer, not a single male being 

 seen. In the autumn the males 

 began to appear, and a week or 

 two afterwards a second brood 

 of females succeeded the males, 

 immediately setting about their 

 tunnels. Each burrow had 

 several others running into it, 

 all being reached by the one 

 common entrance. In each of 

 these burrows was placed a little ball of pollen and a single 

 egg, and the larva was full-fed in some ten or twelve days. 



The colour of this species is black, and there are four narrow 

 bands of yellow on the abdomen. The specific name quadristri- 

 gatus, or four-striped, refers to this colouring. 



The history of the genus Andrena is a very remarkable one, 

 not so much on account of the labours of the bee, but of the 

 persecution which it endures from other insects. In his Cata- 

 logue o£ British Bees, Mr. F. Smith has worked out this branch 

 of the subject exhaustively, though briefly. After remarking 

 upon the various hymenopterous parasites which attack the 

 Andrenas, he refers to the extraordinary parasitic beetle called 

 titylo/is, which was first discovered by Mr. Kirby upon an 



Via. 274. — Halietus quadristrigatus. 

 (Black and yellow.) 



