70 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



black at the margin. It is an aquatic insect, and derives 

 its generic name from the habit of swimming on its back ; 

 on approaching a piece of standing water, these insects may 

 be observed resting with the tail upwards, and the legs ex- 

 tended at right angles; with the body in this position, they 

 are enabled to obtain a supply of air to the apertures of the 

 air-tubes, which are on the sides. They produce a slight 

 wound with the proboscis, and feed on other insects. Many 

 of my readers may have seen them by means of the gas- 

 microscope. 



Htmenopteea. Apidj:. 



APIS. 



Generic Bistindions. — Proboscis long ; maxillary jialpi almost 

 obsolete; body oblong; legs furnished with a pollen plate, and 

 destitute of spines ; tarsi^ basal joint oblong. 



Apis mellifica, the Hive Bee, needs no specific descrip- 

 tion, as the genus Apis is now restricted in England to this 

 species^ which is one of the most perfectly social groups of 

 insects, and possesses the greatest share of instinct. One 

 of the most striking peculiarities in the Hive Bee is the 

 existence of those individuals formerly regarded as neuters. 



