Bramble-bees and Others' 



Has the jade a name? I trust so, without, 

 however, caring to waste my time in enquiries 

 that can have no interest for the reader. 

 Facts clearly stated are preferable to the dry 

 minutiae of nomenclature. Let me content 

 myself with giving a brief description of the 

 culprit. She is a Dipteron, or Fly, five milli- 

 metres long.^ Eyes, dark-red; face, white. 

 Corselet, pearl-grey, with five rows of fine 

 black dots, which are the roots of stiff bristles 

 pointing backwards. Greyish belly, pale be- 

 low. Black legs. 



She abounds in the colony under observa- 

 tion. Crouching in the sun, near a burrow, 

 she waits. As soon as the Halictus arrives 

 from her harvesting, her legs yellow with pol- 

 len, she darts forth and pursues her, keeping 

 behind her in all the turns of her oscillating 

 flight. At last, the Bee suddenly dives in- 

 doors. No less suddenly the other settles on 

 the mole-hill, quite close to the entrance. Mo- 

 tionless, with her head turned towards the 

 door of the house, she waits for the Bee to fin- 

 ish her business. The latter reappears at 

 last and, for a few seconds, stands on the 

 threshold, with her head and thorax outside 



^195 inch. — Translator's Note. 



37S 



