SStcttanarg ol 



$aturg. 



31 



ing moss for this purpose. Their union, how- 

 ever, lasts only till the cold weather kills 

 the great mass of the inhabitants, a few im- 

 pregnated females alone surviving to become 

 the foundresses of fresh colonies at the com- 

 mencement of the following spring. The 

 neuters are late in their appearance, being 

 produced from eggs produced by these foun- 

 dress bees ; and it is not till autumn that 

 the males appear. Unlike the hive-bees, 

 the females take their share in the labours of 

 the community, and they are accordingly 

 furnished with two peculiar organs possessed 

 by the neuters, of which the queen of the 

 hive is destitute, although the neuters of the 

 latter insect possess them ; namely, the 

 dense fringe of hairs surrounding the pollen- 

 plate of the posterior tibiae, and the dilated 

 base of the first tarsal joint. The economy 

 of the humble-bee also, unlike that of the 

 hive, admits of the presence of numerous 

 females in the same nest. The species of 

 Bombus are very difficult to determine, from 

 the colours of the hairs being very liable 

 to fade. It is essential, therefore, to trace 

 the insects from their first leaving the nest." 

 The Hive-bee, and some other analogous 

 species (forming the second section of the 

 ,S'of iales), have the basal joint of the posterior 

 tarsi striated, and the posterior tibiae have 

 no spurs at the extremity, a character not 

 to be found in any other Hymenopterous 

 group. * * * The principal species of beet 

 kept for domestic purposes are the follow- 

 ing : Apis mdlijii-a (Linn.\ or the common 



hive-bee of Europe, and which has also been 

 introduced into the U. S. of America and 

 into New Zealand ; Apis iiyitstica (Spinola), 

 kept in some parts of Italy ; Apis fasciata 

 (Lat.), in Egypt and some parts of Asia 

 Minor ; Apis unicolor (Fab.), in Madagas- 

 car ; Apis Indica (Linn.), at Bengal ; Apia 

 Aduntonii (Latr.), at Senegal. Laeordaire 

 also observed hives of an undescribed species 

 of Chili ; and the Horticultural Society of 

 London, in 1825, received a hive of bees 

 from New Holland, differing materially from 

 the bees of Europe, " being infinitely smaller 

 and wholly without stings." An interesting 

 work on the British Bees, by Mr. Frederick 

 Smith, may be shortly expected: in the 

 " Zoologist," &c. he has published much on 

 the subject. 



APION. An extensive genus of Coleop- 

 terous insects, de- 

 riving the name 

 from their pear- 

 shaped body. The 

 grubs of many kinds 



of Apions destroy 



/ilftiJ^fflN. the seeds of plants. 



"^ In Europe they do 



much mischief to 

 clover in this way ; 

 but in America the 

 species are more 

 numerous and more 

 destructive. Apion 



black species, not 



more than one tenth of an inch long, exclu- 

 sive of the slender sharp-pointed snout. Its 



grubs live in the pods of the common wild 

 indigo bush, Bupt isia tinctoria, devouring the 

 seeds. A smaller kind, somewhat like it, 

 inhabits the pods and eats the seeds of the 

 locust-tree, or Robinia pseudacacia. Harris. 



APLYSIA. A genus of Tectibranchiate 

 Mollusca, of which several species are known. 

 The body of the animal consists of a soft 

 fleshy mass ; it has four flattened tentacular 

 appendages ; the mouth in the form of a 

 vertical fissure, with two lateral labial plates, 

 and a cordiform tongue beset with denticles; 

 branchiae covered by a sort of operculum ; 

 and shell wanting. From the borders of 

 the mantle is poured out abundantly a deep 

 purple liquor, with which the animal colours 

 the water around to a considerable distance, 



hen it perceives any danger. The Aplysia 

 dcpilans, or Depilatory Aplysia, is found in 

 the European seas adhering to rocks : it is 

 extremely fetid, and it was long supposed 

 that the acrid humour which it exuded oc- 

 casioned the loss of the hair. Its digestive 

 apparatus consists of a membranous crop, of 

 enormous size, which leads into a muscular 

 gizzard, furnished with pyramidal cartila- 

 ginous teeth ; and a third stomach beset 

 with pointed hooks ; besides a fourth sacu- 

 lus. Its general colour is blackish, with grey 

 or brown blotches, and tinged with purple. 

 The ova is laid in long glairy entangled 

 filaments, as slender as threads. 



APODES or APOD A. An order of fishes 

 characterised by Linnaaus as being composed 

 of all those which are destitute of ventral 

 fins. According to Cuvier's system, how- 

 ever, they must not only want ventral fins, 

 but be likewise malacopterygious. Of this 

 kind a good and familiar example is seen in 

 the common Eel. 



APOLLO [BUTTERFLY]. [See PAR- 



NASSIUS.] 



APOSUR2E. The name given to a section 

 of the Nocturnal Lepidoptera, differing from 

 all the rest of the order in the caterpillars 

 being destitute of any anal feet, the extre- 

 mity of the body terminating in a point, 

 which in many is forked, or furnished with 

 two long articulated appendages, forming a 

 kind of tail. 



APPLE-MOTH. [See TOKTRJX.] 



ASPIDOPHORUS. The Armed Bullhead 

 or Pogge. [See BULLHEAD.] 



APTENODYTES. The generic appella- 

 tion of the curiously-formed palmiped birds, 

 known by the name of Penguins, a more 

 general and detailed account of which will 

 be found under the letter P. In this place 

 we shall merely make an extract from Capt. 

 Sir J. C. Ross's Voyage to the Antarctic 

 Regions, where he speaks of the Great Pen- 

 guins : "These enormous birds varied in 

 weight from sixty to seventy-five pounds. 

 The largest was killed by the Terror's people, 

 and weighed seventy-eight pounds. They 

 are remarkably stupid, and you are able to 

 approach them so near as to allow you to 

 strike them on the head with a bludgeon, 

 and sometimes, if knocked off the ice into 



