Varieties of the Honeij-Bee. 379 



several specimens from the latter locality, all found near Shang- 

 hai. It is probable that the species described in this paper as 

 Apis sinensis may prove to be its male : it was taken with the 

 above-mentioned specimens. Dr. Gerstacker regards this spe- 

 cies as a variety of Apis indica, and places it among the varie- 

 ties of that species which are characterized as having only 

 the anterior part of the first and the basal half of the second 

 segment yellow, the remainder blackish brown ; my descriptiob 

 is, with the abdomen entirely pale reddish yellow, and a narrow 

 black band on the apical margin of all the segments. 



I consider the species distinct from A. indica for the following 

 reasons: it is uniformly larger, and has proportionally larger 

 ocelli, the anterior one being more advanced and forming a more 

 acute triangle ; in front of the anterior ocellus is a strongly im- 

 pressed channel, which passes down to the clypeus. These 

 characters will probably be considered slight ones; but we must 

 bear in mind that the distinctive specific characters in the genus 

 Apis are slight in the working Bees, only one instance, as I 

 have already observed, being known to the contrary, in A, dor- 

 sata. 



Sp. 7. Apisflorea, Fabr. Syst. Piez. p. 373, ^ . (India.) 



Apis andreniformis, Smith, Proc. Linn. Soc. ii. 49, ^ . (Borneo.) 



lobata, Smith, Cat. Hyra. Ins. Apidas, ii. 416, <j . (India.) 



■ indica, Latr. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. v. 169, ^ . (India.) 



On a careful examination of A. andreniformis, I am inclined 

 to consider it an extreme variety of A, florea : that species has 

 the two basal segments of the abdomen red ; but I have others 

 in which the abdomen is entirely red, the apical segment being 

 slightly fuscous : I find that it varies in colour much more than 

 I was aware of when I described the species. The example upon 

 which I founded it is the only one that I have seen with the 

 abdomen entirely black, the second segment being narrowly 

 rufo-fuscous at the basal margin, whilst the basal margins of the 

 third, fourth, and fifth segments have each a narrow baud of 

 white pubescent pile. Dr. Gerstacker has ascertained that this 

 species is the Anthophora florea of Fabricius ; he has also received 

 the worker Bees from Ceylon, together with specimens of my 

 Apis lobata : for this reason A. lobata is assigned as the male ; 

 if such prove to be the fact, it will be the first instance of such 

 a vast discrepancy in size occurring in the genus Apis, the 

 average size of the worker Bee being 3 J lines, whilst A. lobata 

 is 5 lines. I am, however, inclined to Dr. Gerstacker's opinion, 

 since he has had an opportunity of examining combs of A, florea, 

 and he observes that the drone-cells are very large. 



25* 



