Packard.] 
INSECTS AS MIMICS. 
291 
ine a number of cases, some of which are not recorded so 
far as the writer is aware, but which any one can see for 
himself in his rambles out of doors. 
The humble bees are mimicked by the Apathus, which 
takes up its abode in their nests. The peculiar relations 
existing between the Apathus and its host are not well 
understood. The Apathus is closely related to the humble 
bee, only differing from it in the structure of the jaws and 
hind legs, disabling it from gathering honey and pollen and 
caring for its young. Another well known mimic of humble 
bees is the Volucella, a large, plump, hirsute fly, in form 
ancT color closely copying the bee. Protected by this resem¬ 
blance they enter the nests of their hosts, and their young 
devour the young bees. Bees fig. 227. 
are also mimicked by certain 
Syrphus flies (see Fig. 107) 
and by Laphria flies. The 
wasps are imitated often very 
closely by certain Syrphus flies 
(Fig. 26, a). The most extra¬ 
ordinary case of this kind is a 
Syrphus fly called Spilomyia. 
I once noticed this fly resting 
on a leaf in northern Maine, and involuntarily drew back, 
supposing it to be a white faced wasp (Vespa maculata, Fig. 
227). It is smooth-bodied with the abdomen nearly cylin¬ 
drical and thoroughly wasp-like. The position and form of 
the markings are almost exactly as in the wasp ; the face is 
white, and the eyes are banded with white in imitation of 
the white orbits of the wasps. Even the abdomen or hind 
body is banded only towards the tip as in the wasp, while 
the legs are slashed with white much as in the wasp. An¬ 
other Syrphus (Epopter vittatus ), with a cylindrical body, is 
banded with bright yellow and resembles the Vespa vulgaris, 
while there are other species, such as Doros balyrus , which 
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