218 . APHLE. 



Apis subterranea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 961, and type in Cab. Linn. Soc. 



Fair. Ent. Syst ii. 322. 



Mutter, Zool. Danic. Prodr. 165. 

 Apis soroensis, Kirby, Mon. Apum Angl. ii. 354 $ $ . 

 Bombus soroensis, St.-Farg. Hym. i. 468. 



Zett. Ins. Lapp. 473. 

 Apis tunstallana, Kirby, lib. cit. ii. 346 2 t var. @ $ > var. e $ . 

 Apis harrisella, Kirby, lib. cit. ii. 373 <3 2 • 

 Boinbus liarrisellus, Westw. Nat. Libr. vi. 256, pi. 18. fig. 1 <5 . 



Smith, Zool. ii. 550 <$ 2 $ • 

 Bombus navo-nigrescens, Smith, Zool. iv. 1556. 



Female. Length 9-10 lines. — Densely clothed with black pubes- 

 cence, on each side of the collar slightly yellow ; the pubescence on 

 the posterior margin of the scutellum yellowish ; the apical margin 

 of the third segment of the abdomen and the fourth with fuscous 

 pubescence. 



Yar. j3. The collar, scutellum, and sides of the basal segment of the 

 abdomen with yellow pubescence • the apex white or pale yellow. 

 (A. tunstallana, Kirby, 2 .) B.M. 



Yar. y. The lateral margins of the scutellum only yellow, and the 

 fourth segment obscurely fuscous, sometimes faintly yellowish. 



Yar. 3. Black, with the apex of the abdomen obscurely fuscous. 



Yar. e. Entirely black. (A. harrisellus.) 



Worker. Length 5-8 lines. — Differs only in size from the female, 

 all the varieties in coloration being equally numerous. B.M. 



Male. Length 6-8 lines. — The collar, scutellum, and basal segment 

 of the abdomen with yellow pubescence ; the fourth and following 

 segments white, with the extreme apex black. B.M. 



Yar. (3. The scutellum only more or less yellow ; the apex of the 

 abdomen fuscous. 



Yar. y. The pubescence black, with the apex of the abdomen dirty 

 white. 



Yar. L Black entirely. 



The most highly coloured variety of the female resembles closely 

 that of B. hortorum ; but the species is larger, the abdomen is not so 

 angular at the apex, and the pubescence is shorter ; the tongue is 

 proportionally considerably shorter ; every gradation in colour, from 

 the form described to the totally black one, is to be traced ; and 

 Kirby's typical specimens prove the correctness of the synonymy 

 given. The pubescence of the species is shorter and also coarser than 

 in B. hortorum. 



The male is equally variable as the other sexes, its highly 

 coloured form greatly resembling the male of B. hortorum ; but its 

 pubescence is shorter, and the curled fringe of hair on the mandibles 

 is ferruginous. These hairs are frequently discoloured by the nectar 

 of flowers ; but when free from discoloration they are red ; in B. 

 hortorum the fringe is dark, almost black. The sexual organs of the 

 black and coloured males are identical in form. 



