384 



ORDERS OF PTILOTA. 



may have but a very slight influence upon the general struc- 

 ture of the insect ; thus between the humble bee and 

 the parasitic humble bee {Psithyrus), there is so little 

 general variation of structure, that Mr. Curtis even 

 doubts the propriety of their generic separation, whilst St. 



Humble bee {Bombiis Lapidarius) with jaws of the male and female. 



Fargeau, looking at their different instincts, places them in 

 totally distinct sections, regarding the slight modification of 



Nest of the Humble-bee recently commenced; a, covered entrance; J, waxen cells in 

 which are placed the eggs ; c, waxen envelope commenced ; d, mossy dome commenced. 



form in the legs (dependent, it is true, upon the pollinigerous 

 or parasitic habits of the different insects), of far higher im- 

 portance than that entire variation of structui-e which sepa- 

 rates such families as the working bees and wasps, which are 

 united together by the common tie of sociality. As regards 



