7014 Insects, 



about the juriCtion of the thorax and abdomen. This bee shows great 

 instinct in its search after honey : in those blossoms which it cannot 

 reach inside it goes to the bottom of the flower outside and penetrates the 

 part where the nectary lies. 



Bombus lapidarius (redtailed bee). This is not only a large and 

 very handsome species, but is one of the most interesting of the genus. 

 It makes its nest in old walls, heaps of stones, and dry stony banks. 

 At Aberystwith I found a nest on the top of the hill to the left as you 

 face the sea ; it was nearly two feet from the surface of the ground to 

 the combs, and contained about two hundred and eighty workers, and 

 the combs contained about fifty males and twenty females unhatched. 

 T have never seen any of the males of this species re-enter the nests ; 

 they make their appearance much later than many of their congeners, 

 but are easily distinguished from the workers by their beautiful gay 

 liveries of buff and red — a little in the parroquet style of ornament. 

 Generally speaking they seldom give much trouble in digging out 

 when in the ground, being near the surface ; the nest at Aberystwith 

 was therefore unlike any other of this species I ever saw. The workers 

 are not very pugnacious so far as 1 have found them, but are extremely 

 active in gathering honey. The flight of these bees is very steady, 

 and at a moderate distance from the ground. The males go their 

 rounds in fine weather, and are to be found frequenting the smaller 

 thistles, Veronica, &c. 



B. Derhamellas. This bee is so like B. lapidarius that it is mis- 

 taken by many for that species, but the discerning eye of the illustrious 

 Ray pointed out the difference many years ago. It builds its nest in 

 meadows and pastures, the grassy parts of lawns of gentlemen's houses, 

 and is in this respect like the moss carder (^. Muscorum). The flight 

 is much higher in this species than in the moss carder. I have taken 

 many of their nests. In August, 1857, I captured a whole nest on one 

 of the little knolls near the sea at Llandudno, N. Wales. The workers 

 were very pugnacious, more so than ever I saw them ; the heat at the 

 time was 82*^ Fahr. in the shade. The male of the B. Derhamellus 

 is quite different in appearance from that of the B. lapidarius, 

 being quite black, except the tail, and like the worker, but males 

 and workers are at once to be distinguished by the difference of 

 the antennae. Although I have observed the Bombi in Scotland a good 

 deal, when visiting that country, yet I never saw either the B. Derham 

 ellus or B. lapidarius in any part of that country. I have taken 

 several nests in that country of bees which inhabit walls, generally old 

 ones, but, although they have a red tail, the yellow band on the collar 



