80 



COLLET ES COLOUR. 



downwards, the descent of the blood to which stupifie 

 them so much that against morning- they are easily 

 captured. It does not appear that there is muc 

 truth in this ; for the vascular system of those animal 

 which repose in an inverted position is always s 

 contrived that they can bear that position withou 

 any injury. As many as eight species of these bird 

 have been described, varying in length from about 

 foot to half that measure, and differing considerabl; 

 in colours ; but the particulars of them are too imper 

 fectly known to be of much interest to the genera 

 reader. 



COLLETES (Latreille). A genus of hymeno- 

 pterous insects belonging to the section Aculeata, sub- 

 section Mellifera or bees, and the family Andrenidc 

 or short-tongued bees. The insects composing thi 

 genus do not live in society, and consequently then 

 are no neuters ; the basal portion of the lower part o 

 mouth (nientuni) is long, but the fleshy part at its 

 extremity is short and bilobed, having two latera 

 fleshy and slender appendages ; the upper wings 

 have three complete submarginal cells, of which the 

 second and third are of nearly equal size, each 

 receiving a recurrent nerve, and the body is hairy 

 This genus of bees, of which there are three or four 

 British species (including Apis succincta, Linna?us, the 

 type of thp genus), presents several interesting pecu- 

 liarities both of structure and habits. In our first 

 volume (see pp. 361, 862) the mouth of the hive bee 

 is figured, the terminal parts of which will be seen to 

 be of a very elongated form ; but in the genus of bees 

 now under consideration these parts are so very short 

 that in this respect it much more nearly approaches 

 the wasps than it does the bees, and accordingly Mr. 

 Kirby places it at the commencement of the family. 

 And here we may take the opportunity of correcting 

 an error which unavoidably occurred relative to the 

 figures above referred to. At p. 362 three views of 

 the mouth of the bee are given in the progress of 

 gradual extension. These should have been suc- 

 ceeded by the figures of the " bee's mouth " in p. 361, 

 which represent the same organs still more completely 

 extended, but which were accidentally misplaced, so 

 as apparently to illustrate the structure of the mouth 

 of the larva, after the description of which they are 

 placed. In the left hand figure of the two last men- 

 tioned, the tongue and its various parts are more 

 protruded than in figure 3, the different organs on the 

 left side of the figure being laterally extended, whilst 

 the right hand figure represents the mouth at its 

 greatest possible extension. 



The peculiarity above noticed in the structure of 

 the mouth of the colletes, seems calculated, as Mr. 

 Kirby well observes, in his invaluable monograph 

 upon the English bees, to assist it in the construction 

 of the membranaceous cells, which the wise Author 

 of nature has instructed it to form for the reception 

 of its eggs ; an account of which, from the work of 

 Reaumur, he introduced into his monograph, without, 

 however, having been himself fortunate enough to meet 

 with the nests. The author of this article has been 

 more successful than Mr. Kirby, having more than once 

 discovered the nests, and reared the colletes, and can 

 therefore testify to the correctness of Reaumur's account. 

 Our nests were, however, found in hot sandy banks, 

 thus differing (perhaps from a difference in the species) 

 from those observed by Reaumur. They make their 

 nests, as the latter author informs us, in the earth that 

 fills the vacuities of certain stone walls ; some of 



them choose a northern aspect sheltered by trees ; 

 these nests are cylindrical, and consist of from two to 

 four cells, placed end to end, each of which is shaped 

 like a thimble, the end of the second fitting into the 

 mouth of the first ; the cells are not all of an equal 

 length, some being five, others only four lines long ; 

 their diameter is about two lines. The cylinder usually 

 runs in a horizontal direction ; but sometimes, from 

 the intervention of a stone or other obstacle, it takes a 

 different course, so that the last cell or cells form an 

 angle with the first; it is distinguished by transverse 

 bands of different colours. The cells are composed 

 of many layers of a very thin and transparent mem- 

 brane ; the red colour arises from the substance with 

 which they are replenished, this is sometimes nearly 

 liquid, at others it is merely a paste made of pollen 

 and honey. After the larva is hatched, it soon im- 

 bibes all that is liquid, and when arrived at its full 

 dimensions, it quite fills its cell ; it resembles the 

 larva of the hive bee. Whence these bees procure 

 the membrane with which they form their cells, our 

 author could riot ascertain, but he conjectures it to 

 be a secretion of the insect, analogous to that used 

 by many others for similar purposes. Grew, in his 

 Book of Rarities, gives the history of a bee supposed 

 to belong to this genus, from the similar nature of 

 the cells, which he says are admirably placed for 

 warmth and safety, &c., lengthways one after another, 

 in the middle of the pith of an old elder branch, with 

 a thin boundary betwixt each bag ; whilst Willoughby 

 seems to have noticed their nests in similar situations 

 to those which we have found, namely, in sand banks ; 

 where he says they burrow, making holes like worm 

 holes. 



COLLINSIA (Nuttal). A genus of handsome 

 annuals, natives of America. Linnaaan class and 

 order Didynamia Angiospcrmia, and natural order 

 Scrophularintz. Generic character : calyx bell-shaped, 

 five-cleft, persisting ; corolla personate, back of the 

 tube gibbous; upper lip erect and cleft, the lower 

 one trifid, the middle division forming a hollow keel ; 

 stamens bent downwards, in the hollow of the corolla ; 

 anthers placed parallel ; style two-lobed ; capsule 

 two-celled, four-seeded, and four-valved. These are 

 elegant plants, and if seeds are procured may be 



treated like hardy annuals. If sown in the autumn, 

 hey will flower early and ripen seeds in the following 

 ummer. 



COLLINSONIA (Linnaeus). A genus of tall 

 growing herbaceous plants, belonging to Diandria 

 Monogynia, and to the natural order Labiate. Being 

 lardy, they grow in any common garden soil, affect- 

 ng a moist situation, and are increased by dividing 

 he root. 



COLOCASIA. The specific name of a large 

 Igyptian arum, cultivated in that country for its 

 uberous roots. It is common in our hothouses as an 

 rnamental plant, the leaves being large and hand- 

 ome. 

 COLOUR is one of the external characters, by 



which all objects, whether animate or inanimate, may 

 >e distinguished; therefore in every department of 

 atural history, it is an important element in classifi- 

 ation and description. 



In zoology the species and varieties of many animals 

 re principally determined by the colour or colours 

 vhich they exhibit ; in botany, notwithstanding the 

 nfluence of climate, change of seasons, soil, situation, 



and other incidental circumstances, every species of 



