218 
Hymen opt era. 
and laying an egg in it ; we then find species which live in rnminon 
burrow with separate cells, (Halictus) or which prepare a number of cells 
in one place and have a 4 4 nest ’ 5 which suffices for one or more c unplete 
broods ( Xylocopci , Anthophora) ; finally we find the higher sock forms 
in which a nest contains not only sexual individuals but imperfec 5 wing¬ 
ed females which carry on the nest, the reproduction being limited to a 
small number of individuals, and the multiplication of nests taking place 
in the highest forms by the joint efforts of workers and sexual individuals. 
Xylocopa is an instance, but in this genus the community lives for one 
year only, the impregnated queens living over the winter; the honey 
bees are the highest social forms, with however only three classes of 
individuals, males (drones), females (queens) and imperfect females 
(workers); in these forms the nests are more permanent, and continue for 
an unknown period in some cases, or if the actual comb is deserted, 
the community goes on. In all cases the larva is helpless and must either 
be fed or be prodded beforehand with a supply of food, either for rs 
own use or hat of its host if it be a “parasite.” There is tht 
no free life history and the activities of these insects are confined to 
the adults. 
With nearly thirty genera and a large number of species it is im¬ 
possible to m mtior more than those species which are likely to be 
found generally in the plains. The student must consult Bingham’s 
Fauna of India for descriptions of species. 
Halictus is a small bee with many hill species, and a few plains ones 
which nest in wet soil. The presence of an anal rima in the female dis¬ 
tinguishes them. H. senescens, Sm., is a common plains form. 
Nomia is the next genus (we omit Sphecodes and Andrena) contain¬ 
ing common insects : N. elliotii, Sm., and N. oxybeloides, Sm., are 
black with silvery white pubescence; the known species nest in earth, 
carrying pollen on their hind legs to stock the cells. The nests of N. 
westwoodi are found in damp soil in flower boxes and gardens, about four 
inches below the surface. Lithurgus atraius , Sm., is the bee that 
visits cotton flowers so persistently ; the habits of L. dentipes , Sm., are 
described by Horne (Trans. Zool. Soc., VII, p. 175). 
