. British insects : a familiar description of the form, structure, habits, and transformations of insects. alf an inch. The submarginal cells arethree in number. The flalictus, gregarious, as its name indicates,forms burrows in the earth, in -which several tubes openinto one common entrance. These contain the eggs, andare stored with food as in other cases. This genus alsocontains some of the smallest Bees known, the $ of is sometimes no more than one-eighth of an Q ^ 228 INSECTS. inch in length, H. morio (PI. IX., fig. 2), an exceedngjjabundant species, is one-sixth and over. T
. British insects : a familiar description of the form, structure, habits, and transformations of insects. alf an inch. The submarginal cells arethree in number. The flalictus, gregarious, as its name indicates,forms burrows in the earth, in -which several tubes openinto one common entrance. These contain the eggs, andare stored with food as in other cases. This genus alsocontains some of the smallest Bees known, the $ of is sometimes no more than one-eighth of an Q ^ 228 INSECTS. inch in length, H. morio (PI. IX., fig. 2), an exceedngjjabundant species, is one-sixth and over. This last is abeautiful little glossy black creature with somewhat of ametallic lustre; other species are more or less clothedor banded with white, grey, or golden hairs, while someare entirely black. Tlie males have long slender bodiesand long antennae. It is worth noticing that in this andthe preceding genus, the wing-hooks, instead of forminga series, arranged at regular, or regularly decreasing in-tervals, as in the generality of Bees (see fig. 24, p. 50),are interrupted and placed thus— Fig. a. Hooks of posterior wing of Sphecodea rufeacens. b. do. do. of S, subquadratus. c. do. do. of Halictus morio. The examination of a large number of species mightpossibly prove this to afford a character useful in thedistinction of species. The fore-wings have three sub-marginal cells. The females of the genus Andrena may be recognisedwithout difiBculty by a beautiful little tuft of curled hairson the underside of the trochanter of the hind-legs (seefig. 57, 1, p. 222). Being an instrument for conveyingpollen, it is more conspicuous in the females than in themales, but these also nfive a tuft of hairs in the sameposition. HYMENOPTERA.—ACULEATA. 229 The determination of species is a much more difficultmatter, and requites close examination. On the onehand, many species very closely resemble each other;while on the other, great variety in size, colouring, &c.,occurs in individual
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Keywords: ., bookauthorme, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectinsects
