BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 207 



black on the vertex ; the thorax has a fuscous pubescence on 

 the disk^ on the metathorax and sides it is pale fulvo-ochra- 

 ceous ; the legs have a similar pubescence, that on the poste- 

 rior tibiae and basal joint of the tarsi is of a brighter yellow; 

 wings subhyaline. Abdomen ovate, the base has a thin pale 

 pubescence, which is also thinly scattered over the whole ab- 

 domen, that at the apex being bright ferruginous. B.M. 



Male. Length 5-5 ^ lines. — This sex closely resembles the 

 female, but it has the clypeus and the face on each side, a 

 transverse line above the clypeus, the labrum, and usually a 

 spot on the scape in front, yellow; the clypeus has a round 

 fuscous spot on each side at the base ; the pubescence on the 

 thorax is similar to that of the other sex above ; beneath it is 

 cinereous. Abdomen thinly clothed with pale pubescence, 

 towards the apex it is black. B.M. 



This bee is by no means abundant, nor is it generally distri- 

 buted ; it is however found in the vicinity of London during the 

 mouths of July and August ; it occurs in the Battersea and 

 Kentish Town fields, frequenting the flowers of the Red Dead- 

 nettle, frequently in company with A. A-maculata ; it is not un- 

 common in the neighbourhood of Brentford and Hammersmith, 

 but has seldom been met with beyond the London district. 



Subfamily 5. SOCIALES^ Latr. 



Genus 16. BOMBUS. 



Apis, pt., Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 953 (1766). 

 Bombus, pt , Latr. Hist. Nat. Ins. xiv. 63 (1802). 

 Bremus, Panz. Jurine, Hym. p. 259. 



Body oblong and densely pubescent ; head subtriangular ; an- 

 tennse geniculated, filiform, longer than the head. Ocelli placed 

 in a slight curve in a transverse impression on the vertex. La- 

 brum transverse, its anterior margin ciliated. Mandibles stout, 

 grooved exteriorly towards their apex, w^hich is rounded. Labial 

 palpi four-jointed; the first joint elongate, longer than the 

 mentum, the second joint about one-fourth as long as the first, 

 ciliated at the sides; the third and fourth joints minute, placed 

 outside and near the apex of the second joint. Paraglossa^ 

 short, broad, and rounded at their apex; labium linear, very 



