Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants and Other Stinging Insects

Part 1

Produced by Chris Curnow, Keith Edkins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

WILD BEES, WASPS AND ANTS

1. Formica sanguinea, male. 2. Formica sanguinea, female. 3. Formica sanguinea, worker. 4. Mutilla europaea, male. 5. Mutilla Europaea, female. 6. Cerceris arenaria, female. 7. Ammophila sabulosa, female. 8. Crabro cribrarius, male. 9. Odynerus spinipes, male.

WILD BEES, WASPS AND ANTS

And Other Stinging Insects

EDWARD SAUNDERS

F.R.S., F.L.S., etc

With numerous Illustrations in the text, and Four Coloured Plates by CONSTANCE A. SAUNDERS

LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

* * * * *

{v}

PREFACE

The object of this little book is to give in as simple a form as possible a short account of some of the British Wild Bees, Wasps, Ants, etc., scientifically known as the Hymenoptera Aculeata. Of these the non-scientific public rarely recognizes more than the Hive Bee, the Humble Bee, the Wasp, and the Hornet, whereas there are about 400 different kinds to be found in this country, and they can be recognized by any one who is disposed to make a special study of the group.

The author has not hesitated to make free use of the experiences of others in regard to the habits of the insects he describes, and he has not thought it necessary in each case to make separate acknowledgment of this. He takes this opportunity of thanking Mr. H. Donisthorpe and Mr. F. W. L. Sladen for assistance in the chapters on Ants and their Lodgers, and Humble Bees, respectively. {vi}

These pages are written only for the non-scientific, as the scientific entomologist will be already familiar with the elementary facts recorded; but it is hoped that they may be of interest to lovers of Nature who wish to know a little about the insects they see round them and how they spend their lives. Of this knowledge very little exists, as the scraps which have been here brought together evidence. There is an immense field open for research and observation, and the writer of this little book will be very glad if the following pages should encourage any one to take up the subject and add to our present scanty stock of information.

EDWARD SAUNDERS.

ST. ANN'S, WOKING.

* * * * *

{vii}

CONTENTS

PAGE

THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL, 1

THE SOLITARY GROUPS, 6

THE SOLITARY BEES, 9

THE CUCKOO BEES, 14

THE FOSSORS, OR DIGGERS, 18

THE SOLITARY WASPS, 24

THE SOCIAL GROUPS, 28

Part 2

THE ANTS, 31

THE SOCIAL WASPS, 35

THE HUMBLE BEES, 39

THE BEES WITH BIFID TONGUES, 44

THE BEES WITH POINTED TONGUES, 48

LEAF-CUTTING BEES, 52

Osmia AND ITS HABITS, 55

A COLONY OF Anthophora, 61

BEES AND POLLEN-COLLECTING, 65

ON BEES' TONGUES, AND HOW THEY SUCK HONEY, 72

A DREADFUL PARASITE, 77

{viii} AMONGST THE BEES AT WORK, 81

ANTS, THEIR GUESTS, AND THEIR LODGERS, 88

HOW CAN AN "ACULEATE" BE RECOGNIZED?, 92

MALES AND FEMALES, 95

THE VAGARIES OF COLOUR AND STRUCTURE IN THE SEXES, 100

THE DISTRIBUTION, RARITY, OR ABUNDANCE OF VARIOUS SPECIES, 105

ON BEES' WINGS, 110

ON BREEDING ACULEATES, ETC., 113

ON COLOUR, 119

THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS FROM THE EGG, 124

ON STRUCTURE, 132

INDEX, 141

* * * * *

{ix}

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE

Fig. 1. Bombus, larva and nymph: after Packard 11

Part 3

" 2. Ammophila 22

" 3-4. Spines on the tarsi of female Ammophila 23

" 5. Tubular entrance to hole of wasp 25

" 6. Basal segments of ants 33

" 7. Rose-leaf partially eaten by bees 52

" 8. Tufted hairs of hind leg of Andrena 67

" 9. Corbicula of humble bee 67

" 10-12. Cleaning apparatus of bees 69

" 13-18. Hairs of bees, magnified 71

" 19. Tongues of bees, magnified 73

" 20. Diagram of tongue of bee 75

" 21. Stylops 77

" 22. Stylops larva in abdominal cavity of bee 78

" 23. Antennae of "Keyhole" wasps 101

" 24. Legs of male "Keyhole" wasps 101

" 25. Tibia of male Crabro cribrarius 103

" 26. Antennae of male Crabro cribrarius 103

" 27. Head of male and female Crabro clypeatus 103

" 28. Parts of the insect 133

* * * * *

{xi}

DESCRIPTION OF THE COLOURED PLATES

PLATE A

Figs. 1, 2, 3. Formica sanguinea Latr.: male, female, and worker. The host of Lomechusa (p. 89), also a slave-making species; makes irregular nests of dead leaves, etc., generally against a sloping bank.

Figs. 4, 5. Mutilla europaea Linn.: male and female. One of the few British species of Aculeates where the female is wingless; found in sandy places running in the sun.

Fig. 6. Cerceris arenaria L.: female; burrows in the sand, and provisions its nest with beetles (p. 20).

Fig. 7. Ammophila sabulosa L.: female; burrows in the sand, provisions its nest with caterpillars, peculiar for its very elongated waist (p. 22).

Fig. 8. Crabro cribrarius L.: male; peculiar for its paddle-like tibiae and flattened antennae (p. 103).

Part 4

Fig. 9. Odynerus spinipes L.: male; peculiar for the form of its middle femora, which are cut out almost in two semicircles (p. 101); female makes a tubular entrance to her nest (p. 25).

PLATE B

Fig. 10.--Colletes succinctus L.: female; lines its cells with a gluey material (p. 44); colonizes in sandy banks; host of Epeolus rufipes (fig. 19).

{xii} Fig. 11. Sphecodes subquadratus Smith: female; cuckoo of a species of Halictus; female hibernates like its host (p. 17).

Fig. 12. Halictus lencozonius Schr.: burrows in the ground; the host of Sphecodes pilifrons Thoms (p. 17).

Fig. 13. Vespa crabro L.: female (the Hornet), nests in hollow trees; host of the rare beetle Velleius dilatatus (p. 38).

Fig. 14. Vespa vulgaris L.: female: one of our commonest wasps; nests usually in the ground (p. 35); host of a peculiar beetle (Metoecus paradoxus) (p. 38)

Figs. 15, 16. Andrena fulva Schr.: male and female; the bee which burrows in lawns, etc. (p. 9); host of Nomada ruficornis var. signata (p. 15).

Fig. 17. Panurgus ursinus Gmel.: Female; legs loaded with pollen, burrows in hard sandy paths, etc. (p. 49). Males sleep curled up amongst the rays of yellow composite flowers.

Fig. 18. Nomada ruficornis L. var. signata: cuckoo of Andrena fulva (figs. 15 and 16).

Fig. 19. Epeolus rufipes Thoms: female; cuckoo of Colletes succinctus (fig. 10).

PLATE C

Fig. 20.--Megachile maritima Kirby: female; burrows in the ground, makes its cells of pieces of leaves, which it cuts out with its mandibles; host of Coelioxys conoidea.

Figs. 21, 22. Coelioxys conoidea Illig: male and female; cuckoo of Megachile maritima.

Fig. 23. Burrows of Megachile Willughbiella Kirby, in a piece of rotten willow; each burrow originally contained six cells, but two of the left-hand series have been lost.

{xiii}

PLATE D

Figs. 24 and 25. Anthophora pilipes F.: male and female. A spring bee, the male of which may often be seen in gardens, darting from flower to flower (p. 81); while the female collects pollen; it forms large colonies (p. 62).

Fig. 26. Melecta armata Pz.: cuckoo of Anthophora pilipes.

Fig. 27. Anthidium manicatum L.: invests its cells with the down off the stems of labiate plants, which it strips off with its mandibles (p. 50).

Fig. 28. Osmia bicolor Schr.: female; nests in snail-shells, which it sometimes covers up with small pieces of grass-stems till a little mound is formed, resembling a diminutive ants' nest (p. 59).

Fig. 29. Bombus terrestris L.: female. One of the commonest of our Humble Bees; it nests in the ground. It is the host of Psithyrus vestalis, which resembles it very closely in colour; it is this species that was exhibited by Mr. Sladen at the Maidstone Agricultural Hall (p. 41).

Fig. 30. Bombus lapidarius L.: another common Humble Bee, also an underground builder; it is the host of Psithyrus rupestris.

Fig. 31. Psithyrus rupestris F.: female; the cuckoo of Bombus lapidarius, which it closely resembles except for the nearly black colour of the wings.

* * * * *

{1}

THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL

I think I ought here to say why I propose to limit myself to an account of a certain portion only of the Hymenoptera. The reason for this, in the first place, is that the section which I have selected is the only one of which I have any special knowledge; it consists of the bees, wasps, ants and sandwasps, four groups which make up the stinging section of the order--or perhaps more accurately, which have poison bags connected with their egg-laying apparatus or ovipositor. Another reason for their selection lies in their nesting habits; these enable one to get a further insight into their economy and ways than can be obtained from those of almost any other group or order--at any rate they make them comparatively easy to study; one can, so to say, find these little creatures at home, whereas in most orders there seems to be no definite home to which the {2} individuals may be traced; a great advantage also in selecting the stinging groups for study is that they are creatures of the spring and summer, and of the sunshine, so that the weather which tempts them out to their duties is of the kind most agreeable to those who wish to investigate their habits.

Continue reading Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants and Other Stinging Insects free in the Wunder reader →