890 Insects. 



Descriptions of the British species of Bees belonging to the Genera 

 Anthophora and Saropoda of Latreille ; with observations on 

 their economy. By Frederick Smith, Esq. 



The species belonging to these genera are very closely allied; 

 St. Fargeau has united them all under Anthophora ; still our British 

 species have the maxillary palpi four-jointed in Saropoda, whilst in 

 Anthophora they are six-jointed : the neuration of the wings is simi- 

 lar, each having three complete submarginal cells of the same form. 

 The Anthophorse are harbingers of spring ; I have met with them on 

 warm sunny days, at the latter end of March ; the male, at this 

 period, may be observed in close attendance on " his swarthy bride ;" 

 they are partial to the flowers of the dead nettle. In the year 1826, 

 in the month of April, I amused myself by watching a number of 

 both sexes of A. retusa issuing from their burrows, formed in the 

 mortar of a brick garden wall, alighting occasionally on the leaves of 

 the shrubs, and basking in the warm sunshine ; the males rapidly 

 chased the females from shrub to shrub, and as they settled on the 

 leaves, these sportive things pounced upon them, and again the pairs 

 took flight : my attention was at length arrested by the sluggish flight 

 of one individual, which settled on the leaf of a laurel tree ; this bee 

 appeared to have no inclination to join in the gambols of the rest; 

 what was my astonishment, on a closer examination of the creature, 

 to observe, that its face was half black and half yellow : I captured 

 it, and it proved to be an hermaphrodite, a description of which was 

 published by Mr. Shuckard in the ' Entomological Magazine.' No 

 figure having been published of it, I have drawn one to illustrate the 

 present paper. Had any further proof been necessary of the pro- 





Hermaphrodite specimen of Anthophora retusa. 



priety of uniting the dissimilar sexes of this species, the capture ol 

 this singular monstrosity would have proved conclusive. 



