A P I O N A P I S T E S. 



173 



From their habits the insects of the family are 

 divisible into two groups; 1st, the solitary, and 2nd, 

 the social bees. In the former the shank of the hind 

 legs, of the females is clothed with hairs, whilst in the 

 latter, this portion of the leg is broad and concave, 

 forming a shallow trough for the carrying of pollen. 

 The solitary bees in the recent distributions of 

 Latreille form four sub-families ; 1st, the Andrcnoides, 

 a group of small extent, consisting of the genera, 

 Systropha, Kophitcs, and Panurgus; 2nd, the Daxy- 

 g'astres, or woolly-bellied bees, consisting of the leaf 

 cutters (JkfetfacAifc), upholsterer bees (Osmia), some of 

 the mason bees, and others; 3rd, the Cuculincs, or 

 cuckoo-bee , including the genera, Epeolus, Nomnda, 

 Mdccta, &c. ; and 4th, the Scopulipedcs, or brush- 

 legged bees, including the mason bees, Anthophora, 

 and some others. The social bees consist of the 

 genera of humble bees (Jiombas), hive bees (Apis), 

 with several other allied exotic genera. It must be 

 evident that in a work of tins kind it will be impos 

 sible to enter into the details of the structure and 

 habits of all the various kinds of bees, since volumes 

 would not contain a complete account even of the 

 hive bee alone. We shall, therefore, under the 

 article BEE, give a short notice of the hive bees, and 

 shall detail the economy of the other groups under 

 their respective heads. 



APION. A very extensive genus of minute 

 beetles (ColcHptera), belonging to the family 

 of the weevils (Curculiomdas), established by 

 Herbst, and distinguished by the elegant 



pear-shaped form, the protruded snout, and 

 the straight antennae of the species. About 

 ninetv species have been found in England. They 

 subsist upon vegetable productions, occasionally doing 

 much mischief. The yellow-thighed apion (A.jiavi- 

 fenwratum), feeding upon the seeds of the purple 

 clover and the yellow-footed apion (A. Jlctinpes), upon 

 the Dutch or white clover, the larva feeding upon 

 the heads. Mr. Kirby has made an interesting ob- 

 servation respecting an insect of this genus, with 

 reference to the supposed uses of the antennae ; whilst 

 examining it under a lens, its antennae started upon 

 his making a slight but distinct noise, and which it 

 repeated as often as the noise was renewed. This 

 circumstance has been regarded as affording a proof 

 that the antennae are organs of hearing (Insect 

 Miscell., p. 107); but from the extreme sensibility 

 of these portions of the body, we should rather be 

 inclined to refer their starting to the operation upon 

 them of the vibrations in the atmosphere, caused by 

 the production of such noise. One of the handsomest, 

 and at the same time commonest species of the genus 

 is the Curculio frumentarius of Linnaeus ; it is about 

 one-sixth of an inch long, of a bright red colour, and 

 is generally found upon the dock. 



APIOS (Borelli). A single genus of tuberous- 

 rooted plants, native of North America, belonging to 

 the Linneean class and order, Diuddphhi decamlna. 

 Natural order, Leguminosa. Generic character : calyx 

 bell-shaped, limb oblique, three teeth short, the fourth 

 or inferior one elongated ; keel bent like a sickle, 

 standards bent back at the top ; tube notched and 

 fixed below the germen ; pod leathery, two-celled, 

 ttie cells interrupted. This plant is closely allied 

 t ) git/cine or wisteria. 



APIS the bee. In the Liinuean system of insecis 

 this name was employed to designate all those hyme- 

 uopterous insects which have the lower parts of the 



mouth formed into a trunk, and bent downwards, the 

 antennae elbowed in the middle, the wings smooth, 

 and body generally hairy. It included, therefore, not 

 only the honey bee, humble bees, mason bees, leaf- 

 cutter bees, carpenter bees, &c., but also a great 

 number of other species, whose habits were and still 

 are unknown. On more minutely examining the 

 characters possessed by some of them, it was found 

 that the trunk was very short, whilst on the others it 

 often attained a very considerable length, being some- 

 times as long as the whole body; hence, by Reaumur 

 and De Geer, the latter were regarded as the true 

 bees (forming the genus Apis, in Mr. Kirby's admirable 

 MunosrapJaa Apum Auglice), whilst to the latter they 

 gave the name of pro-abeillcs, which are the andrenae 

 of Fabricius and the melittae of Mr. Kirby. On 

 reviewing the whole order of hymenopterotis insects, 

 however, these two groups still possess characters in 

 common of such importance as to warrant their for- 

 mation into a separate section, which has been termed 

 Arithophila (lovers of flowers), or Mellifera (gatherers 

 of honey, or rather of pollen); indeed the latter 

 peculiarity is supported by that singularity of struc- 

 ture which distinguishes the group, namely, the large 

 and dilated si/.e of the basal joint of the posterior 

 tarsi. The two groups above noticed constitute the 

 two families of which, in the modern classification, 

 this section mellifera is composed, namely, first, the 

 ANDRENIDA: (which see*), and second the APID^J. 



APISTES treacherous, a genus of Acanthoptery- 

 geous, or spinous-h'nned fishes, belonging to Cu\ ier's 

 second family of the order, or those which have 

 armed cheeks (joues cuirassecs) ; they have teeth in 

 the palate, and only one dorsal fin. Their peculiar 

 character is a sirong suborbital spine, with which 

 they are very apt to inflict wounds in the hands of 

 those who incautiously touch the sides of their 

 heads. They are fishes of rather small size, and 

 inhabiting chiefly the warmest seas. One subdivision 

 have the body scaly, with large pectoral fins and one 

 free spinous ray ; another have the pectoral fins of 

 moderate size and without any free rays ; and a 

 third have the body free from scales, and free rays 

 under the pectorals. Some of the species are found 

 on the coast of Australia ; but the habits of all of 

 them are very little known. 



APLVS1A-LAPLYSIA (Linnams, Lamarck). A 

 molluscous animal, belonging to the class Parace- 

 phalophora ; order, Monopleurobranchiata ; and to the 

 family of Ap/ysiacea. 



The body of this animal is thicK, fleshy, and oval, 



* It has been inadvertently stated in this article, that 

 although the species of Andrenidae consist only of two kinds 

 of individuals, males and females, yet that they live in socie- 

 ties. Now it is a physiological circumstance of much interest 

 that all social hymenopterous insects are provided with 

 neuters, for the due support of the community. Neuters are 

 accordingly found amongst the ants, the true wasps, the hive 

 bees, and the humble bees. When, therefore, no neuter 

 individuals exist we may be certain that the insects are not 

 social; now this is precisely the case with the burrowing 

 wasps (Odynerus), with many of the Apidse and with the 

 Andrenidx. It is true that the latter arc often found congre- 

 gated thickly about some sunny bank, or other convenient 

 place, but their sociality is of no higher order than that which 

 exists amongst the inhabitants of the same street in large 

 towns, where one person scarcely knows his next door neigh. . 



