42 



INSECTS. 



SOUTH AFRICAN WASP AND ITS NEST (nat. size 



black spots on a yellow clypeus. V. vulgaris presents a longitudinal black line 

 dilated at the extremity. V. rufa is rare in Northern Europe. V. media has the 

 yellow markings of the abdomen darker than in the other species. The wood- 

 wasp, V. silvestris, hangs its nest on the bough of a tree or shrub. Such brief 



notices are, of course, wholly inadequate 

 for a student of the group ; and reference 

 must be made to writings devoted to the 

 special points of difference between these 

 closely allied species. Among other forms 

 space only admits mention of the South 

 African wasp {Belonogaster), of which 

 the comb is shown in the annexed figure. 

 Common in houses at the Cape, this 

 insect is much dreaded on account of the 

 severity of its sting. 



Solitary Bees, — Family AnbreniBuE. 



These insects may be recognised by 

 the fact that the pollen-collecting organs 

 are situated on the femora and coxse of 

 the hind-legs, and the neighbouring sides 

 of the thorax. The genera Andrena and Hylceus comprise the greater part of all 

 the wild bees of Central and Northern Europe. The perfect insects appear in 

 the early spring, making their nests in sandy soil. In the first genus figures of 

 three species (A. schencki, A. cineraria and A. fulvicrus) are given in the accom- 

 panying illustration. H. grandis, figured on the same illustration, flies in July 

 and August, and forms a large number of holes — a kind of colony — in some sunny 

 slope. The species of both Andrena and the allied Halictas are parasitic, and 

 display a very curious habit. When retiring to rest they fasten upon a twig or 

 the edge of a leaf with their mandibles, fold their wings, draw up their legs, lay 

 the antennas neatly along their backs, and, having induced a temporary lock-jaw, 

 hang securely until the morning, when they loose their hold and hurry off once 

 again to play the parasite on their relatives. Another species figured in the same 

 illustration is the hairy -legged bee (Dasypoda hirtipes), which appears on the wing 

 in July, and constructs a nest of about six cells in sandy ground. The burrow 

 runs obliquely at first, afterwards descending perpendicularly. Another well- 

 known type of the family is exemplified by the mason-bees, of which one 

 species (Chalicodoma muraria) is represented in the annexed illustration. These 

 insects make their appearance in Europe during May, when the female forthwith 

 sets about constructing her nest. This includes not more than ten simple cells, 

 and is attached to old walls or houses ; the cells being formed of grains of sand 

 glued together with the saliva of the builder. In 1886 some bees of an allied 

 genus (Osmia) constructed their nests in the locks of a door at Deptford. The 

 cells had completely choked the works of the locks, and in one case a portion of 

 the nest was forced out by the insertion of the key without driving away the bees. 



