HUMBLE-BEES. 
211 
their modes of life, having been subsequently detected, 
the humble-bees of this country are now very properly 
divided into two generic groups , Bombus and Apathus. 
They may be distinguished from the hive-bee, and 
other races bearing affinity to them, by having the 
simple eyes arranged in a curve, instead of forming a 
triangle ; by having an impression in the shape of a 
cross on the forehead ; the labrum transverse, and two 
distinct spines at the apex of the posterior tibiae. More 
obvious characters are afforded by their large, com- 
paratively rounded, hirsute bodies, generally adorned 
with bands of light-yellow or red. Upwards of 
forty different species are described as inhabitants of 
Britain ; but as the three distinct races of females, 
males, and workers, belonging to the same species, 
often bear little resemblance to one another, and as 
the hair or down covering their bodies, often of the 
gayest colours, changes with age, like the plumage of 
birds, it is by no means unlikely that individuals of 
the same family, and differing only in sex or age, 
have, in some instances, been described as of a dif- 
ferent species. Speaking of the hirsuties, or hairy 
covering of this family, and of its liability to change 
of colour, Kirby remarks,* “ An insect recently 
hatched appears in this respect a different species 
from the same when it has been long exposed to 
wind and weather. Thus, for instance. Apis Mus- 
corum, which, when fresh from the pupa, is dis- 
tinguished by a thorax covered with hair of a fine 
orange colour, and by an abdomen whose coat is a 
* Monographia Apum Angliae, i. 207. 
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