IIYMENOPTERA. 599 



Tlie maxillae and labium are greatly elongated, and form a kind of proboscis, elbowed and folded beneatb, 

 in inaction. Tlie two basal joints of tbe labial palpi have often the form of a compressed scaly seta; 

 the two others are very minute, and athxed obliquely near the end of the second. 



Tlie Apiaria; are either solitary or social in their habits. 



The Solitary Bees have never more than the two ordinary kinds of individuals, males and females, 

 each female providing alone for the support of her posterity. The hind feet of these females are fur- 

 nished with neither pollen baskets, nor silken pollen brushes. They arc provided on the outside with 

 numerous close hairs. 



A first division of Solitary Bees comprises those which have the second joint of the posterior tarsi in- 

 serted in the middle of the extremity of the preceding joint. 



Tlie A)idr(moides approach the Andreneta; in having the labial jialpi composed of slender joints, 

 placed end to end, and similar to the G-jointed maxillary palpi ; the females have no ventral brush, but 

 their hind legs are provided with bundles of hairs, with which they collect pollen. 



The three followint^ have tbe mandibles of the females narrowed at the tip. 



Systropha, Ilhg., has a tooth beneatli the apex ; three complete cubital cells, and the male antenn,-!e curled. 



Rnphites, Spin., with similar mandibles, but havint? onlv two complete cubital cells, and the antenna; never 

 cnrhMl. 



PaiiHrgus, with the mandibles not toothed ; the w'mg^ with two complete cubital cells. 



Ajiluciipa, Latr., or the Carpenter JJees, have the mandibles nearly spoon-shaped ; the labrum is ciliated in front; 

 the Lipjier wings have three complete cubital cells, the first of which is cut in two by a transparent line. Tlie male 

 in many species diflers greatly from the females, which resemble great Humble Bees ; their wings are often violet, 

 copper, or golden-coloured, and brilliant. Type, Apis violacea, Linn, [a continental species,. the female of which 

 foims long burrows in wood, palings, &c., in which it makes several cells, in each of which it deposits an egg and 

 a supply of pollen paste. The species are numerous, and chiefly inhabitants of tropical climates. 



The labial palpi of the other ApiarijE resemble scaly plates ; the two basal joints very long ; the maxillary palpi 

 short, and often with fewer than six joints. 



The Das-i/r/astr(S are remarkable for the under side of the abdomen of the females being furnished 

 with a stiff, silky coat of hairs ; the labrum is as long as broad, and square ; the mandibles of the females 

 strong, triangular, and toothed. 



Cerafina, Latr., approaches Xylocopa, the only subgenus which has G-jointed maxillary palpi, and three complete 

 cubital cells. The abdomen is oval, and destitute of a ventral brush, as well as in Stelis and CaliojtySy which never- 

 theless ought, from their general characters, to form jiart of this group. 



All the otlier Dasygastra^ have never more than four joints in the maxillary palpi, and two complete cubital 

 cells. 



Clielostoma, Latr., has the body long and subcylindric ; the mandibles advanced, narrow, and curved ; and the 

 maxillary palpi 3-jointed. 



//'.'/■/'f'/cv, .Sjiin., has the body also long and subcylindric, but the mandibles are triangular, and the maxillary 

 jialpi S-jointed. 



Li the four following subgenera, the abdomen is shorter and subtriaiigalar, or semi-o\'al. These are I\Ia?yon 13ees 

 and Leaf-cutter Bees. 



I\Iegachile, Latr , has the maxillary palpi '2-jointed ; the abdomen flat above, and capable uf being elevated so as 

 to be able to use their sting above their bodies. M. muraria [a continental cpecies], with violet-coloured wings, 

 makes its nests of fine earth, and fixes them against walls exposed to the sun, each nest containing from twelve to 

 (ifteen cells. Otlier species, named Leaf-cutter Bees, employ in the construction of their nests portions of leaves, 

 pei'fectly o\'al or circular, which tliey cut out of leaves with their jaws with surprising dexterity ; these they carry 

 to their burrows made in the earth, or sometimes in walls, or the trunks of old trees, forming cells of them of the 

 sizi.' of a thimble, and inclosing an egg in each cell, with a supply of pollen paste, the cover of one cell forming the 

 lioftom of the next abo\-e it, and so on imtil tbe burrow is filled. Of this number is Apis centuncularis, Linn., {_d. 

 common British species]. 



Lithiirgus, Latr., has 4-jointed maxillary palpi, and tbe abdomen depressed above. [Exotic species.] 



Oum'ta, Panzer, has also 4-Jointed maxillary palpi, but the abdomen is convex above. Some of the species of 

 this genus, [which is numerous,] are Mason-bees, and others Leaf-cutters ; amongst the latter is the Tapestry-bee 

 of Reaumur, which uses portions of the wild scarlet poppy to form its nests. It belongs to Saint Fargeau's genus 

 Anf/iocopa, difl'ering from Osmia in having tridentate instead of bidentate mandibles. Some species make their 

 nests in the galls of trees. 



AntJiidium, Fabr., has the abdomen convex, and the maxillary iialpi only 1-jointed. The females strip off the 

 cottony matter growing upon various wild plants, in order to form their nests therewith. 



Sfclis, Panz. {with the scutellum simple and the abdomen semicylindrical), and 



C^lioji-iis, Latr. (with two teeth or spines to the scutellum, and the abdomen triangular), differ from the prece- 

 ding and ngree with the following iu wanting the ventral brush, which leads to the supposition that they are 

 parasites. 



