166 NATURAL ARRANGEMENT OF INSECTS. 



rious Anthophora and Eucera; the very gay Crocisa, 

 distinguished for its beautiful white and caerulean mark- 

 ings ; the pretty little Ammobates, Phileremus, and 

 Epeolus, parasitical upon Colletes, and Calioxys whose 

 young is reared at the expense of that of Megachile. 

 We further observe the exotic respleridently metallic 

 Aglae^esoriychia, and Mesocheira; Ischnocera,v?lth its 

 exceedingly attenuated and nodose antennae in the males. 

 The three last of these are conspicuous for the structure 

 of the calcar of the intermediate legs, which are furcated 

 towards the apex, and one of the branches multidentate, 

 resembling an expanded hand with its thumb and fingers. 

 It is very probable, also, that the beautiful and large 

 genus Acanthopus belongs to this group, for the female 

 is not known, and it has a similarly constructed inter- 

 mediate spur : the furcation of this organ probably su- 

 persedes the possession of the usual pair. With the 

 exception of Melecta and Crocisa, which are cosmopo- 

 litans, we have detected these parasitic genera to be 

 natives only of Europe and America ; and the richly 

 metallic species being, as far as we are yet acquainted 

 with them, restricted to Tropical America and the West 

 Indian islands. 



( 1 52.) The last large subdivision of the solitary bees, 

 the Scopulipedes, or HAIRY-LEGS, collectively present the 

 most assiduous collectors of pollen among the bees : the 

 posterior tibia and basal joint of the tarsus are densely 

 hirsute in all ; and in many it is difficult to detect the 

 form of the limb for the hair : the thickened and dis- 

 torted structure of the legs of the males of many of 

 them is very remarkable. The habits of a few only 

 are known, the majority being exotic; and the collectors 

 of exotic insects have rarely cared to notice or record 

 the habits of their captures. Our native genera consist 

 of Eucera,, named from the length of the antennae of its 

 male; Saropoda, and the gregarious Anthophora, the 

 tones of the hum of the different species of which are 

 so peculiar and distinctive. Here also should be placed 

 the small Southern African genus Allodapa; and our 



