82 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



term humble-bee appears to be from a corruption of the word humming 

 bee, which appropriately describes the sonorous flight of these large 

 bees. 



There are some specimens here of the solitary bees, as distinguished 

 from the social and parasitic bees, amongst which are two species of 

 Sphcecodes, one of the family of short-tongued bees, small black and 

 red shining insects; three species of the genus Halictus; and three of 

 the genus Androena. Next in order are seen three species of the 

 wasp-like parasitic or cuckoo-bee Nomada, another species of the five 

 genera of cuckoo-bees ; then two specimens of one of the leaf-cutter 

 bees, Megachile centuncularis. This species is considered to be the 

 most widely distributed bee in the whole family of Apidae. Then come 

 some specimens of the sand-burrowing and wood-boring wasps, dis- 

 tinguished from the true wasps by their fore wings, which are not 

 folded; Crabro cephalotes, which burrows in decaying wood, and pro- 

 visions its nest with Diptera ; Pemphredon lugubris, another fossorial 

 wood wasp ; Mellinus arvensis, one of the most common of the sand 

 wasps; and Pompilus exaltatus, another equally abundant species of 

 sand wasp. Of the social wasps there are in the box four of the seven 

 Irish species — Norvegica and Sylvestris (tree wasps), Yulgaris and 

 Eufa (ground wasps). One of the two genera of solitary wasps is re- 

 presented by Odynerus trimarginatus. Two queens and four workers 

 of the Alpine, Ligurian, or bright-banded honey bee are placed beside 

 a queen and some workers of the common brown honey bee, for com- 

 parison. 



The number of species collected by me is very small ; but the time 

 at my disposal was by no means exclusively devoted to Hymenoptera, 

 or probably this most extensive order of insects would have been more 

 fully represented here this evening. 



List of Htmenoptera Collected. 



Terebrantia, 



Cimbex femorata. 

 Trichosoma lucorum. 

 Lophyrus pini. 

 Athalia rosse. 

 Allantus arcuatus. 

 Tenthredo ambigua. 



,, viridis. 



Dolerus coracinus. 

 Chrysis ignita. 

 Ichneumon flavoniger. 



,, palliatorius. 



„ fasciatorius. 



„ terminatorius. 



„ extensorius. 



umbraculosus. 



