HYMENOPTERA. 
665 
distinctly from the wasps and the digger-wasps, which pro¬ 
vision their nests with other insects or with spiders. 
The superfamily Apina includes two families: the An- 
drenidae or short-tongued bees, and the Apidae or long- 
tongued bees. These can be separated as follows:— 
A. Bees with the terminal portion of the lower lip, the glossa, flat¬ 
tened and shorter than the mentum; and with the basal segments 
of the labial palpi not unlike the following segments, p. 665. 
ANDRENIDAE. 
AA. Bees with the glossa slender, not flattened, and longer than the 
mentum; and with the basal segments of the labial palpi elongate, 
p. 666.Apidae, 
Family Andrenidae (An-dren'i-dae). 
The Short-tongued Bees . 
The family Andrenidae includes several genera of bees 
which agree in having the glossa shorter than 
the mentum, and flattened (Fig. 794 )- 
some genera the glossa is spear-shaped, in 
others it is heart-shaped. 
The different genera of this family vary 
greatly in habits, but none of the species are 
social. Among the more common short- 
tongued bees are some that make their nests 
in the ground, and on this account are termed 
mining-bees. It should be remembered, how¬ 
ever, that some of the Apidae are also mining- 
bees, and that not all of the Andrenidae are Fig. ^.-Labium 
miners. mentuni; A pa) 
, . . , „ . P US S & & lassa 
The nest of a mining-bee usually consists 
of a tunnel, more or less branched, each branch leading to 
a single cell. The walls of these cells are glazed, appearing 
like the surface of earthenware. In each cell there is stored 
a quantity of pollen and nectar-paste, an egg is laid with 
this food, and the cell is then closed up. 
Among the larger of our common mining-bees are those 
