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.

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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.

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{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.