18. apis. 225 



the corbiculum ; the first joint of the tarsi produced at its base 

 above into a spine, fringed above with long loose hair, outside subgla- 

 brous, inside furnished with ten rows of short stiff hairs. Abdomen 

 retuse at the base, convex and subcylindrical ; the sting curved. 



Female. — Differs in the head being narrower than the thorax ; the 

 posterior tibiae convex externally and not fringed at the sides with 

 hair ; the first joint of the tarsi not furnished with transverse rows 

 of rigid hair, and destitute of the spine at its base above. The 

 abdomen in proportion considerably longer, and the sting is straight. 



Male. — Robust ; the head and thorax very pubescent ; head much 

 narrower than the thorax ; eyes large and meeting at the summit, 

 occupying the entire vertex, very pubescent; the ocelli situated 

 on the face just above the insertion of the antennae, the posterior 

 tibiae smooth and shining externally, convex and much narrower 

 at their base, the first joint of the tarsi oblong, wider than the 

 tibiae, smooth and shining, convex externally. Abdomen as wide 

 as the thorax, cylindrical, its apex obtuse. 



The genus Apis of Linnaeus included the whole of the modern 

 family of these insects ; it now, however, is restricted to the 

 social honey-bees agreeing generically with the Apis mellifica. 



Volumes have been written on the economy of the honey-bee ; 

 Swammerdam, Reaumur, Huber, Bevan, Schirach, and many other 

 eminent observers have made us acquainted with many marvels 

 of the hive ; and even yet fresh discoveries are being made. 



In the entire range of the history of the Apidae nothing is to be 

 met with that excites our wonder in a greater degree than the fact 

 of the hive-bees being able to replace the loss of their queen. This 

 is accomplished by transferring the recently developed larva of a 

 worker bee into a queen's cell, and supplying it with the same food 

 as is used to nourish queens. This transforms the larva that would 

 have developed into a sterile worker into a fruitful female, an 

 insect structurally different. This is only one of the marvels of the 

 hive ; others equally startling are to be found in the works of writers 

 on the hive-bee ; and the above is only referred to in consequence 

 of our not having observed any difference in the food upon which 

 both sexes of solitary species of many genera of Hymenoptera feed. 

 The larvae of both sexes of the Pompilidae feed upon spiders ; the 

 larvae of many parasitic Hymenoptera are nourished by the larvae of 

 bees, and also by those of innumerable species of Lepidoptera : all 

 these, according to their varied habit, subsist upon the same aliment, 

 and yet both sexes are evolved. The question hence arises, what 

 force is it that in such cases produces difference of sex ? 



Apis mellifica, in the present day, is a cosmopolitan insect ; and it 

 would appear that it has been spread over most parts of the Old 

 World from remote ages. The effect of climate has no doubt in 

 some localities produced permanent varieties ; and these have been 

 described as distinct species. On this interesting subject great 

 difference of opinion exists : in the general catalogue of the Apidae, 



Q 



