HYMENOPTERA. 
419 
in support of the assertion of Smith, that the inseets of this genus 
are not parasites, but that they make and store their own nests. 
He believes that they eonvey pollen to their burrows by means 
of the hairs on the head, the clypeus, and the mandibles. With 
regard to the species of this genus, Sichel is inclined, after the 
examination of about 3200 specimens, to adopt the opinion of 
Wesmael, that most of the described European and Algerian 
species are to be regarded as varieties of S. gibbus, and thinks 
that the whole number may be reduced to at the utmost 3. In 
the detailed description of these species and their numerous va- 
rieties and subvarieties (/. c. pp. 412-446), it is rather difficult 
to understand what value the author puts upon the various forms 
described under distinct names. The 3 admitted species seem 
to be S.gibbus (Linn.), S. scabricollis (Wesm.), and S.fuscipennis 
(Germ.) j but we find many other forms described as species, and 
even as new species [vide infra) ^ although we are afterwards told 
that they are merely varieties or subvarieties, not only of the 3 
admitted species, but even of S. hispanicus (Wesm.), which itself 
is said to be a subvariety of S. gibbus ! Such a treatment of a 
difficult subject can only render the confusion worse than it was 
before. It is hard to see why the term species should be em- 
ployed at all in the designation of what are confessedly mere sub- 
ordinate varieties. The total number of forms, numbered as 
species, belonging to Europe and the Mediterranean region, is 
10 ; that of the exotic species^' is 19. 
Sphccodes. Sichel describes the following forms of this genus, and gives 
them new specific names : — S. rttjicornis, 1. c. p. 440, Algeria ; S. punctulatusj 
1. c. p. 443, Algeria; S. scariosus, I, c, p. 444 (subvar. gibbus), Morocco; S. 
subpu7ictulatus, 1. c. p. 445, Morocco ; S. abyssinicm, h c. p. 447 (subvar. his- 
panicus) ; S. senegalensis, 1. c. p. 448 (subvar. ruficol'nis ?) ; /S', punctatus, 1. c. 
p. 449, Cape of Good Hope ; S. subconfertus, 1. c. p. 456, S. metathoracicus, 1. c. 
p. 466, /S', aspericollis, 1. c. p, 457, /S', puncticollis, 1. c. p. 469, /S', metanoticms, 
1. c. p. 460, and /S', basalis, ibid., Mexico ; /S'. 7'ugtdosus, 1. c. p. 463, and /S', gi'a- 
nulosus, 1. c. p. 464, Chili. 
Andrena. ImholT has published (Mitth. schw. ent. Ges. ii. pp. 33-74) de- 
scriptions of the Swiss species of this genus. He enumerates 37 species, and 
remarks upon the general characters presented by them (1. c. pp. 33-35). An 
analytical table is given (pp. 71-74). The following synonymic indications 
occur : — Melitta smithella (Kirby) —prcecox (Scop.) ; A. varians (Rossi) in- 
cludes as vars. A. mixta (Schenck) and helvola and angulosa (K.) ; M. aJbicans 
[K.)=A. h(smorrhoa (Fab.) ; A. cognata and griseola (Sch.)=e?or5a^a (K.) ; 
A. elongata (fm\\oW) — hattorJiatia (Fab.). 
Andrena nydhcniera^ sp. n., Imhoff, 1. c. p. 46 (cf perhaps = iff. subdentata, 
K.), A. sericata, sp. n., Imh. 1. c. p. 63, and A. lucens, sp. n., Imh. 1. c. p, 67, 
Switzerland. 
Andrena atigustipes, sp. n., Schenck, Berl ent. Zeits. 1866, p. 326, Nassau. 
S. Sevan Fox has communicated to the Devonshire Association a paper 
on the Natural History of the Honey-Bee. Report and Trans, part iii. (1864) 
pp. 98-110. 
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