164 INSECTA. 
July. The labourers remove the wax that clogs their cocoon to fa- 
cilitate their issue. It was formerly supposed that they produced 
labourers only, but we have already seen that some males are among 
them, whose functions have been indicated. These labourers assist 
the female in her work. The number of cells which serve as habita- 
tions to the larve and nymphs increases, and they form irregular 
combs placed in stories, on the edges of which we particularly ob- 
serve the brown patée of Reaumur. According to Huber, the la- 
bourers are extremely fond of the ova of the female, and sometimes, 
in her absence, even break open the cells in which they are deposit- 
ed, in order to suck the milky fluid they contain! a most extraordi- 
nary fact, which seems to belie the known attachment of the labour- 
ers for the germs of that race of which they are the protectors and 
_guardians. The wax’ produced by them, according to this same 
naturalist, has the same origin as that of our domestic Bee, or is 
merely elaborated honey that also transudes through the intervals 
of some of the abdominal annuli. Several females live amicably to- 
gether under one roof and exhibit no symptoms of aversion for each 
other. They copulate abroad, either in the air or on plants, where 
I have seen them thus united. The females are much less prolific 
than those of our domestic Bee. 
The following species are common in the environs of Paris. 
B.muscorum; Apis muscorum, L.; Reaum., Insect., VI, ii, 1, 
2, 3, yellowish; hairs of the thorax fulvous. The same colours 
in all the individuals. 
B. lapidarius; Apis lapidaria, L..; Reaum., Ibid., I, i, 4. The’ 
female is black, with a reddish anus and colourless wings. 
The male—Bombus arbustorum, Fab.—has the front of the 
head and the two extremities of the thorax yellow. The anus 
is red as inthe female. This species makes its nest under piles 
of stones. 
B. terrestris; Apis terrestris, L.; B. souterain, Reaum., Ibid., 
III,i. Black; posterior extremity of the thorax and base of the 
abdomen yellow; anus white(1). 
Sometimes the social Apiariz have no spines at the extremity of 
their posterior tibiz. 
(1) For the other species, see the Memoir of M. Huber, Lin. Trans., VI; Jurine 
on the Hymenoptera, genus Breme, and Panzer on the same order of Insects. 
With respect to their male organs of generation, see the Memoir of Lachat and 
Audouin. 
