A HISTORY OF KENT 



Ellampus aeneus, Fab. Lewisham (Beaumont) Chrysis pustulosa, Ab. Maidstone (Elgar) 



Hedychridium minutum, Lep. ( = ardens, — viridula, L. (= bidentata, L.)- St. 



Coq.). Deal, Dover (Sladen) ; Barming Margaret' i Bay (Sladen), Bearsted 



(Elgar) (Elgar) 



Chrysis neglecta, Shuck. Maidstone (Elgar), — ignita, L. Common everywhere 



St. Margaret's Bay (Sladen) — ruddi, Shuck. St. Margaret's Bay 



— cyanea, L. Lewisham (Beaumont), (Sladen) 



Barming, Heme Bay (Elgar) 



ACULEATA 



Ants, Wasps and Bees 



This section of the Hymenoptera has been studied in Kent more 

 than any of the others, and the occurrence of 303 species is recorded 

 out of the 384 that have up to the present been taken in Great 

 Britain. These include 16 species of ants (Heterogyna), 99 species of 

 sand- wasps {Fossores), 18 species of true wasps [Diploptera), and 170 

 species of bees {Anthophild) . 



The habits of the Aculeata are more diverse and interesting than 

 those of any other insects. Most of them Uve solitarily, each female 

 forming and provisioning her own nest ; but in each of the groups 

 except the Fossores there are a few species which dwell in colonies, the 

 majority of the occupants of the colonies being workers (imperfect 

 females). The history of the formation and maintenance of these 

 colonies is more like that of a romance than a plain statement of natural 

 facts. Amongst the bees several genera are in a manner parasitic on 

 other bees ; they lay their eggs in their nests, so that the young of the 

 parasite feeds upon the pollen that another bee has provided for her own 

 offspring. The name of cuckoo-bees or ' inquilines ' has been given to 

 these parasites. 



The food of the ants consists chiefly of animal matter, but scarcely 

 anything comes amiss to them ; the wasps, solitary and social, prey 

 mostly upon small insects which they catch and give to their young in 

 a living or freshly-killed condition, although many of the adults are fond 

 of honey, etc. ; the bees subsist entirely on honey and pollen gathered 

 from flowers. 



As many as 8 species of Aculeata have not hitherto been recorded 

 from any place in Britain outside of Kent. These are : T'achytes lativahis. 

 Thorns., Miscopius maritimus, Sm., Cerceris emarginata, Pz., Odyfierus crassi- 

 cornis, Panz., and among the bees Prosopis piinctulatissbna, Sm., Bofnbus 

 pomorum, Vznz. , Andre?ja polita,^m.., and Cilissa melanura, Nyl. The last- 

 named species has only recently been introduced into the British list. Of 

 the others only two species have been taken lately, Miscophus maritimus, 

 Sm., which occurs annually at Deal, and Andrena polita, Sm. 



A considerable amount of collecting has been done at intervals 

 stretching over a good many years in certain spots in the county, but 

 there are several large districts that are still entirely uninvestigated, and 

 these certainly contain many rare and interesting species and probably a 

 few new ones. The sandhills at Deal have long been known as a good 



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