522 INSECTS ABROAD. 



men is black, and across it are drawn several bands of light- 

 coloured hair, the two upper bands being either white or pale 

 yellow, and the remainder deep orange, so that the whole insect 

 has very much the appearance of a humble bee. The wings are 

 nearly brown, but become transparent towards their tips. It is 

 remarkable that there is a large dipterous insect belonging to the 

 genus Asilus, which so closely resembles this Euglossa, that when 

 the two are placed side by side, they look like two specimens of 

 the same insect. 



The two insects which are shown in the next illustration belong 

 to the same genus as our familiar Humble Bees. 



The general habits of all the species are very similar, though 

 they may vary somewhat in detail. They are social insects, 

 living together in nests constructed either in or on the ground. 

 Their cells are made of a very coarse brown wax, and are oval 

 in shape, so that they cannot be arranged with the beautiful 

 accuracy which distinguishes the cells of the hive bee, or even 

 those of the common wasp. Indeed, except that they stand tole- 

 rably upright, they seem to be tossed about very much at random, 

 the bees having apparently made the cells wherever they could 

 find room. 



Contrary to the custom of the hive bee, males, females, and 

 neuters live socially together, the females taking part in cell- 

 making and honey-collecting, and there being no single queen 

 who will allow no rival to the throne. The males, however, 

 when once they have left their nests, seldom return to them. 

 They are all big-bodied, heavy-flying insects, and, when on the 

 wing, they emit a deep humming sound, which has earned for 

 them the popular title of Humble, i.e. Humming Bees. 



There are few insects in which such variation of colour exists. 

 as among the Humble Bees. In the first place, every species is 

 liable to very great variation ; and in the next place the colours 

 of the long hairy clothing are so evanescent, that after a few 

 days' exposure to light and air, they fade into the very shadows 

 of their former beauty. With these insects, as with the Andre- 

 nas, the only mode of preserving them in their full beauty is by 

 taking them almost as soon as they have issued from their co- 

 coons, and then keeping them in a perfectly dark drawer. 



As is the case with the wasp, tlio greater number of Humble 



