Bramble-bees and Others 



Halictus carries the clearly-written certificate 

 of her guild. 



Examine the last ring, at the tip of the 

 abdomen, on the dorsal surface. If your cap- 

 ture be an Halictus, there will be here a 

 smooth and shiny line, a narrow groove along 

 which the sting slides up and down when the 

 Insect is on the defensive. This slide for the 

 unsheathed weapon denotes some member of 

 the Halictus tribe, without distinction of size 

 or colour. No elsewhere, in the sting-bearIng 

 order. Is this original sort of groove In use. 

 It Is the distinctive mark, the emblem of the 

 family. 



Three HallctI will appear before you In this 

 biographical fragment. Two of them are my 

 neighbours, my familiars, who rarely fail to 

 settle each year In the best parts of the en- 

 closure. They occupied the ground before 

 I did; and I should not dream of evicting 

 them, persuaded as I am that they will well 

 repay my Indulgence. Their proximity, which 

 allows me to visit them daily at my leisure. Is 

 a piece of good luck. Let us profit by It. 



At the head of my three subjects is the 

 Zebra Halictus {H. zebriis, Walck), who 

 Is beautifully belted around her long ab- 



366 



