Varieties of the Honeij-Bee.^ 377 



pends its combs from the branches of trees, without any out- 

 ward protection. This, I am informed by Sir John Hearsey, is 

 also the habit of A, dursata in India. This species varies greatly 

 in the coloration of the abdomen. I have seen the following 

 varieties : — 



a. Head and thorax black; abdomen yellow, with the apex 



more or less dusky ; the anterior wings brown, palest at 

 their posterior margin. {Apis dorsata, Fabr.) 



b. Like the previous variety, but with the wings hyaline. 



India. 



c. Black, with only the two basal segments of the abdomen 



yellowish red. (Apis hicolor and A. zonata.) 



d. Varies in having the three basal segments of the abdomen 



reddish yellow, and a band of white pubescent pile at the 

 base of the fourth and fifth segments ; anterior wings 

 brown. Timor. 



e. The head and thorax black, and clothed with pale pubes- 



cence; the abdomen and legs entirely pale testaceous; 

 wings hyaline. [A. testacea.) Borneo and Timor. 



I have added a mark of doubt to the synonym A. nigripennis 

 because I do not feel quite satisfied of its being distinct from the 

 next species. I have seen examples of a black Bee from the 

 Philippines which may prove to be a climatal variety of A, dor- 

 sata : it has not the ocelli so large as the next species. 



Sp. 2. Apis zonata, Smith, Proc. Linn. Soc. iv. 8, ^ . (Celebes.) 

 Apis dorsata, Gerst. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1843) xi. 344, nee Fabr. 



This species is entirely black; it is the largest at present 

 known of the genus ; it is 9 lines long, whilst the A. dorsata I 

 never found to exceed 7J lines. The abdomen, in all the speci- 

 mens that I have seen (nineteen or twenty), is very convex above, 

 and is adorned with a band of snow-white, short pubescent pile 

 on the basal margins of the third, fourth, and fifth segments ; 

 these bands are continued beneath. Dr. Gerstacker considers 

 this species as an extreme variety of ^. dorsata; but in this I 

 cannot agree. The size, colour, and convexity of the abdomen 

 are difi^erent, in addition to which I find a difference in the form 

 of the metatarsus ; the ocelli are proportionally larger, and the 

 face is not pubescent. These may be regarded as slight dif- 

 ferences ; but, as I have already remarked, the specific distinc- 

 tions among the workers of the different species of Honey-Bees 

 are always extremely slight. The capture of the other sexes 

 will, no doubt, decide this question ; but I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that A. zonata will prove to be a good species. 



Ann, H^ Mag, N, Hist. Ser.a. Fo/. xv. 25 



