408 Insects. 



autumn, in the same dismantled condition as those which he describes ; 

 on one of them a large Goerius olens was making a meal, but whether 

 he took advantage of the bee's inability to fly, or rendered it incapa- 

 ble, I am at a loss to determine. 



Descriptions of new Bees. The season for collecting having ter- 

 minated for the present year, at least so far as regards the Hymenop- 

 tera, one has a little breathing-time, and can quietly review the results 

 of another campaign. The past season is considered by collectors 

 generally to have been an unproductive one ; I can bear witness to 

 the scarcity of insects generally. What became of the wasps — the 

 true Vespidae ? I observed the usual number of females in the spring, 

 but summer and autumn were enlivened by few of these industrious 

 marauders. Anglers sought their favourite baits in vain, and I could 

 could scarcely find a specimen, even in situations where wasps usu- 

 ally abound. I found but one solitary male and half a dozen females. 

 Notwithstanding the numerical deficiency of species, I consider the 

 last season as one of the most fortunate I have experienced during 

 ten years' collecting. I have captured several rare bees, as well as 

 beetles ; of the former, two new species — a beautiful species of An- 

 drsena and its parasite, a new Nomada, T will give descriptions of 

 both, and would premise that I have searched amongst foreign collec- 

 tions, and hunted over foreign authors, and believe both to be unde- 

 scribed. I have no wish to raise varieties into distinct species, or to 

 re- describe them, but shall endeavour to point out shortly what spe- 

 cies I consider as constituting varieties amongst the bees, as well as 

 describing new species, should not some more able entomologist un- 

 dertake the task. The genus Bombus I would reduce from thirty- 

 seven species distinctly described in Kirby, to about eighteen : the 

 genus Nomada from thirty-one species to about twenty, five of which 

 are not described in Kirby's Monograph. Far be it from me even to 

 insinuate that the illustrious author of that work unnecessarily in- 

 creased the number of species ; but the united experience of natural- 

 ists during the forty years which have elapsed since the publication 

 of the ' Monographia Apum,' have enabled us to give to many females 

 their legitimate partners, and also to discover that these partners, in 

 many instances, are clothed in different colours. 



I shall first describe the Andraena. It is quite distinct from all the 

 species described by Kirby, and would follow A. Shawella in Kirby's 

 arrangement. I have twice met with this bee ; it congregates in co- 

 lonies, and appears to be a very local species. On both occasions I 



