ON COLOUR 



THERE is but little tendency towards brilliant 

 coloration amongst our native aculeates. No 

 doubt our comparatively high latitude accounts 

 for this to some extent, as also the fact that the 

 aculeates do not, as a rule, elsewhere assume great 

 brilliancy. Even in the tropics and other warm 

 regions, where bright green, blue or coppery 

 coloured species occur, they are comparatively 

 few in number. In this country metallic colours 

 are to be found in less than a dozen species, and 

 in most of these it exists only as a tinge. Amongst 

 our ants and wasps it does not exist at all, unless 

 the slight bronziness of the typical form of Formica 

 fusca be so considered. The fossors can exhibit 

 only a bluish tint in Mutilla Europcea (pi. A, 4, 5), 

 and a slight bronzy tinge in two of quite the 

 smallest species, Miscophus maritimus and the 

 of Crabro albilabris. The bees can do a little 

 better ; five species of Halictus have a distinctly 



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