26 Family Apidce. 



their helpless young, or larvae, entirely on pollen, or ho ney and 

 pollen . 



The insects of this family have broad heads, elbowed anten- 

 n£e (Fig. 2, d) which are usually thirteen-jointed in the males, 

 an3 only twelve-jointed in the females. The jaws or mandi- 

 bles (Fig. 24) are very strong, and often toothed ; the tongue 

 or ligula (Fig. 22, t), as also the second jaws or maxillse 

 (Fig. 22, mx), one each side of the tongue, are long, though in 

 some cases much shorter than in others, and frequently the 

 tongue when not in use is folded back, once or more, under 

 the head. All the insects of this family have a stiff spine on 

 all four of the anterior legs, at the end of the tibia, or the 

 third joint from the body, called the tibial spur , and all, ex- 

 cept the genus Apis, which includes the honey-bee, in w hich 

 the posterior legs nave no tibial spurs, have two tibial spurs 

 on the posterior legs. All of this family, except one parasitic 

 genus, have the first joint or tarsus of the posterior foot much 

 widened, and this together with the broad tibia (Fig. 2, K) is 

 hollowed out (" Fig. 25, y>\ forming q uite a basin or basket on 

 the outer side , in nearly all the species; and generally this 

 basket is made deeper by a rim of stiff hairs. These recepta- 

 cles or poll en baskets are"only foumTcTlJourse on such indi- 

 viduals "^i^eacn~community as gather pollen. A few of the 

 Apidse— thieves by nature — cuckoo-like, steal unbidden into 

 the nests of others, usually bumble-bees, and here lay their 

 eggs. As their young are fed and fostered by another, they 

 gather no pollen, and hence like drone bees need no^. and 

 have not, pollen baskets . The young of these lazy tramps 

 starve out the real insect babies of these homes, by eating 

 their food, and in some cases, it is said, being unable like the 

 young cuckoos to hurl these rightful children from the nest, 

 they show an equal if not a greater depravity by eating them, 

 ' not waiting for starvation to get them out of the way. These 

 parasites illustrate mimicry, already described, as they look so 

 like the foster mothers of their own young, that unscientific 

 eyes would often fail to distinguish them. Probably the 

 bumble-bees are no sharper, or they would refuse ingress to 

 these merciless vagrants. 



The larvae (Fig. 14) of all insects of this family are maggot- 

 like — wrinkled, footless, tapering at both ends, and, as before 

 stated, feed upon pollen and honey. They are helpless, and 



