ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 AT 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS 
 BEEKEEPING LIBRARY 
 
 m 
 
 CO 
 
 fn 
 
 
 t. — I/) 
 
 
 « ^~ 
 
 j,.=^^=^ 
 
 
 «;^=s=^VI 
 
 g U.) 
 
 ^^^O 
 
 
 
 
 s.. ^-^ 
 
 
 1— 
 
 3^=^== 
 
 ^^co 
 
[ 161 ] 
 
 V. Notes on the Habits of some Hymenopterous Insects from the North-west Provinces 
 of India. By CnA^L^B Kom^, Usq,, B.aS., RZ.S. With an Appendix, con^ 
 taining Descriptions of some new Species of Apidw and Vespidce collected by 
 Mr. Home : by Frederick Smith, of the British Museum. Illustrated by Plates 
 from Drawings by the Author of the Notes. 
 
 Read June lOtli, 1869. 
 
 [Plates XIX. to XXII.] 
 
 I HAVE been encouraged to arrange these Notes in consequence of the interest 
 expressed on looking over my drawings by many of our leading entomologists, more 
 especially by Mr. F. Smith, the well-known hymenopterist of the British Museum, who 
 has so much assisted me in naming known and describing new species. The habits of 
 some of these were little, if at all, previously known ; and I trust that other students of 
 nature, with more time at their disposal than I had in India, may take up this very 
 interesting tribe of insects. 
 
 Upper Norwood, April 1869. 
 
 Fam. SPHEGID^. 
 
 Pelopceus madraspatakus, Fabr. (Plate XXI. figs. 6 & 7.) 
 
 This is perhaps the most common of the insects of this genus found in the North-west 
 Provinces, India, and one which attracts the attention of the casual observer. 
 
 Its ordinary name amongst Europeans is the " mud-dauber." Its cells are found in 
 the oddest places, but chiefly about the rooms of houses. They are generally constructed 
 from June to October ; and the insect is seldom to be seen at all after November, dis- 
 appearing until the close of the cold weather, le, in February or March. 
 
 It may then be observed, but sparingly, as the individuals may be said to have 
 emerged from the pupa-state before their time. 
 
 In May, June, and July, however, they may often be seen sitting by small muddy 
 puddles near wells, working up the mud into little pellets about the size of buck shot, 
 and then flying off with them in or, rather, under their mouths. These are taken to 
 some corner of a window-sill, or hollow in a rough wall, and deposited on the spot 
 which has been previously carefuUy selected by the insect. As it is perfectly fearless 
 when engaged in cell-building, and as many of the positions selected are very open, it is 
 easy to observe its habits. 
 This is one of the species which sometimes uses a cavity such as that left by the 
 
 VOL. VII. — PART III. April, 1870. ^ 
 
162 MESSES. C. HOENE AND F. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 removal of a lock, a hollow between bricks, or between the wall and door-frame. 
 Sometimes a roughness or slight depression in the floor is the unfortunate selection, 
 where the first passer by will crush the construction, in which case the patient creature 
 will rebuild it three or four times, and at last, in despair, abandon the locality ; thus 
 on one occasion I observed a cell built in the corner of the door-frame of a bath-room, 
 so that it must be crushed every time the door was closed. The room was used at least 
 once a day ; and six times was the cell completely destroyed ; it then abandoned the 
 position. This was in October 1867 ; and I rather think that it ceased building merely 
 in consequence of its season for cell-building having expired. 
 
 Sometimes each cell is separately constructed ; at others one is placed over another ; 
 whilst I have observed them, as hereinafter described, build a mass of cells, as in the 
 case of the corner of a room being selected. 
 
 The building of these cells is very regularly conducted, and they are generally placed 
 parallel to the ground. A line of pellets of mud, the base of the ceU, is first put down, 
 and each pellet is worked nicely and smoothly with the jaws, assisted apparently by the 
 feet, so that, as the work is performed very quickly, the joins are hardly perceptible. 
 Having finished off its work with one pellet, it stands over it, looks at it with com- 
 placency, walks around it, pats it approvingly with its antennse, and at last, being 
 satisfied, flies off for more material. 
 
 I have reason to think that generally but one sex works at nest-building; for often, 
 when I have captured an insect at work, no other has come to complete the structure. 
 
 A cell takes about a day to make, the insect working assiduously as long as daylight 
 lasts. As the walls rise, layer by layer, they are contracted until they meet in an arch, 
 the insect meanwhile carefully smoothing and plastering the interior as the work 
 proceeds. 
 
 The next employment is the filling of the cell with food for the young grub. On 
 one occasion only I observed green caterj)illars being stored, although small field-spiders 
 are the regular storing-food. 
 
 The egg would appear to be deposited on the body of the first spider placed in the 
 cell. This would lead one to infer that the female is the worker. 
 
 Twenty spiders are sometimes packed away ; and the egg or young grub of the insect 
 has always been found by me on the lowest one when I have opened a cell directly 
 after it has been closed up, which closing is effected directly the structure is well filled. 
 
 Ordinarily, on one cell being finished another is begun alongside, as little space being 
 lost as possible ; and in this way four, five, or six cells are made. 
 
 Meanwhile the egg is hatched, and the young grub sucks out, one by one, the juices 
 of the comatized spiders, until being fully grown and its stores finished, it spins its 
 strong cocoon of fine agglutinated silk and changes into the pupa-state. In this it 
 remains for periods varying from one to five months according to season. 
 
 When the time for emerging arrives, the cap of the pupa-case gives way to the jaws 
 
FEOM THE KOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 163 
 
 of the larva; and the earthen one of the cell (moistened at its edges by some fluid 
 ejected by the insect) giving way, the Pelopceus comes forth fully prepared to mate, and 
 build more cells. Of some of these cells I have observed the cap to be convex on 
 the lower side, so that the least moisture or effort internally applied would loosen it, 
 whilst external pressure would only fix it more securely. 
 
 I have never seen a sparrow or other bird attack one of these insects. Its sting and 
 an odour it emits would appear sufficiently to protect it. 
 
 I forgot to mention that when the number of cells intended to be constructed in one 
 place (generally two or three) is finished, the whole is covered with a smooth coating of 
 mud, making it look like a dab of mud on the wall, and quite disarming the suspicions 
 of the ordinary passer by. On one occasion I observed rays of mud round the nest, 
 even more exactly imitating a lump of mud thrown with some force. This I hold to 
 evince a most wonderful instinct, as they could not be required for strength. 
 
 Pelopceus bilineatus, Smith. (Plate XXI. figs. 14 & 14«.) 
 This insect, which Mr. Smith has noted as a variety of P, madraspatanus, generally 
 resembles it in its habits. It stores spiders, but it aff'ects hedges and trees rather than 
 buildings. A fork in the bough of a "Meendee " (Lawsonia spinosa\ commonly used 
 for hedges in the North-west Provinces, is often the favoured spot. Its structures are 
 more solid than those of other species, which is the more necessary, as it has to resist 
 greater stress of rain and weather. 
 
 Pelopceus bengalensis, Dahlb. (Plate XXI. figs. 2 & 2 «;.) 
 
 This insect rather afiects the exterior than the interior of houses. In its general 
 habits it very much resembles the last species, and it seldom, if ever, builds its cell 
 separate. A rough wall or corner is its favourite place. It has even more than most 
 Pelopoei the quivering motion of the abdomen, also common amongst Ichneumonidse, 
 and works very fast. Its work is rough, but is most carefully made to assume the form 
 of the object on which it is built ; for example, sometimes amongst grass the mud is 
 continued up the stem for some distance, and the eye does not in consequence so readily 
 determine the nature of the structure. The cells are well filled with small spiders. 
 
 My former remark, as regards the shape of the cell-doors of P. madraspatanus^ 
 applies equally to this species. 
 
 As there is an account of this insect and its works, in the ' Intellectual Observer,' by 
 Mr, Beavan, I shall not offer any further remarks upon it. I, however, think that a 
 note from my natural-history note-book, with a slight sketch, may prove of interest, 
 and therefore subjoin it: — 
 
 "July 12, 1864. — This morning I broke open three cells neatly constructed on my 
 door. I found the contents to be as separately represented, viz. one fed grub, one 
 smaller one sucking a spider (which seemed to be his second, as a dry skin lay before 
 
 2a2 
 
164 MESSES. C. HOENE AND E. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 him), and twenty-five spiders of various sizes in the two cells. I could not find the egg 
 or larva in the third cell, which had only just been closed ; but the former was doubtless 
 on the body of one of the larger spiders which had been first deposited in the cell. 
 " Benares." 
 
 It is very wonderful to see how well the food is packed, and it is worthy of inquiry 
 how the stored spiders remain alive and^Zwmp for so many days. It must be the effect 
 of the poison conveyed through the sting of the Pelopceus when it captures the insect. 
 
 At times it builds its solitary, highly finished cell on some small hanging object, 
 such as a stalk of grass in a thatch under shelter; and then the shape of the cell is 
 curious, being rather ovate, so as to throw off the rain. At others the cells are placed 
 side by side in great numbers, say twelve or fourteen, and so well covered over with 
 mud as to be almost unobservable (PL XXI. fig. 2). The situation is very often in the 
 midst of a plant of grass, the stalks of which are, as before observed, covered far up 
 with mud. 
 
 Fam. CEABRONID^. 
 Trypoxtlon REJECTOR, Smith. (Plate XXI. figs. 4 & 4 a.) 
 
 This curious little insect, when first hatched from the delicate little Serpularia-like 
 cells, was taken by me for some parasite allied to the Ichneumonidse, in consequence of 
 my having often observed it hovering at the mouths of the cells of the smaller cell- 
 building insects in my verandah. I found, however, that it brought mud and worked 
 for itself, as well as appropriated the cells of other insects which it found ready to its 
 hand. 
 
 I have nowhere found recorded its habits ; but I think I have seen it carrying minute 
 green spiders wherewith to fill its cells. It certainly does not feed its young, but stores 
 food ; for it closes its cells directly they are ready, which none of the Vespidse do. 
 
 The construction of these is very curious ; and the pellets of earth used appear of a 
 sandy character, which gives to the structure great delicacy and fragility. At the same 
 time the interior of the cell is lined with some glutinous ejection which binds it together. 
 
 The specimens of cells figured (the originals of which are now all in England) show 
 how strongly this cementing fiuid acts. (See PL XXI. figs. 4 & 4a.) 
 
 The nests are extremely difficult to find, being small, and many straws hanging in the 
 places where they are usually constructed, such as under a thatch of coarse grass. 
 
 As might have been expected, they remain a very short time in the pupa-state ; and 
 the month of September is their favourite season of construction, although they con- 
 tinue to build in October. 
 
 I have often watched them as I sat in my thatched summer-house at Mainpuri ; and 
 the rapidity with which they came and went was surprising. I know of no other 
 special peculiarity which calls for remark, excepting that all the cells I have found 
 have been under cover. 
 
PEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOYINCES OE INDIA. 165 
 
 Fam. LARRID^. 
 
 Parapison KUFiPES, Smith. (Plate XXI. j&gs. 1, 1 a, 1 b.) 
 
 This insect, which appears not to have heen before noticed, has been described by 
 Mr. F. Smith. It constructs a mass of loosely arranged cells of earth attached to some 
 hanging object, such as a creeper, tendril, or pendent straw, or even a curled dry leaf. 
 The interior of the cell is strengthened by a very fine glutinous silky-looking substance ; 
 and this is the more necessary, as the least damp would otherwise destroy the whole 
 fabric. 
 
 I believe the insect to apply some kind of gluten, whilst the pupa secures its safety 
 by spinning a very slight silken web within its abode. The cells are very globular, and 
 are filled with the smallest spiders, of which I counted eighteen in two chambers. 
 These are generally of a pale grey-green colour, and their plumpness is curious. Some- 
 times, however, it builds on walls with more or less regularity. {Vide PL XXI. figs. 1, 
 la, & \h,) The pellets used in construction are, comparatively with the size of the 
 insect, very large, and loosely attached to one another : very little smoothing is effected 
 exteriorly ; and were it not for the interior binding together of the particles, the cell 
 would apparently fall to pieces of itself. 
 
 A small Pemphredon^ or another even smaller species, often takes possession of the 
 cells of this insect, rendering the identification of the pupa very difficult. The 
 chrysalis is more ovate in form than that of Pemphredon ; I have no drawing of the 
 grub. 
 
 The earth brought is prepared by water, as is the case with all clay-cell-building 
 insects which I have observed ; and the insect affects the vicinity of water, and hence 
 probably is seldom found far from wells. It builds in September and October ; and the 
 perfect insect sometimes emerges early, although it often delays its appearance until the 
 spring (viz. March or April) of the following year, when the heat sets in. 
 
 PisoJsriTUS KUGosus, Smith. (Plate XXI. figs. 5 & 5a.) 
 This insect was most abundant in my court-house at Mainpuri. The door-posts had 
 been made of old wood which were full of small and large screw-holes, which were 
 used by it for the purpose of storing the tiny spiders which it provides for its larva. 
 
 As a proof that it can build with clay, although I never found its cells in any other 
 position than in that above described, I may state that when the hole was too large for 
 its purpose, it used to fill it in all round with clay, and closed the mouth of its cell with 
 a similar material. 
 
166 MESSES. C. HOENE AND P. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 Fam. EUMENIDiE. 
 EuMENES CONICA, Fabr. (Plate XX. figs. 2 & 2 a.) 
 
 As I bred many of these insects, I had ample opportunity of watching them. They 
 place their nests on the walls of houses, but prefer wood, such as door-frames; while 
 sometimes they make series of cells of great length, one such series often extending 
 more than one foot. 
 
 One pair of insects will construct twelve or thirteen cells, and it does not take an 
 entire day to complete one of them; yet I have often thought I could detect more than 
 one pair engaged in one place, but at different ends of the structure, which, when com- 
 l^leted, contained perhaps twenty-four cells. 
 
 It should be remembered that the insect avails itself of the wall or beam for the back 
 of its cell, which is made extremely thin, the clay which is carried beneath the mouth 
 being beautifully fine and well kneaded. Hence it is extremely diflacult to detach their 
 cells without breaking them. The cells are high and vaulted, and at the mouth they 
 have a protruding rim, which projects outward and curves slightly downward. Ten or 
 twelve green caterpillars are stored in each cell, which is carefully closed with mud. 
 
 This insect, like Peloposus madraspatanus, seems very proud of its work, and, before 
 leaving for fresh material, runs about approvingly and thoroughly inspects its perform- 
 ance. If disturbed it flies off, and does not attack you as do the Vespidse. 
 
 The imago generally emerges about five weeks after the cell has been closed ; and, 
 owing to the thinness of the walls, which are easily pierced, it is much attacked by 
 parasites. Thus out of one group of five cells, only two specimens of JEumenes were 
 hatched. Of these parasites I shall speak afterwards. 
 
 In life the Eumenes is much brighter in colour than it becomes after death, so that 
 no idea of its beauty when at work can be readily formed from the specimens. It was 
 from one of the cells of this species that I took nine caterpillars, eight of them being 
 blacTc Geometers, and only one green one ; so that it is clear the insect had, contrary to 
 custom, met with a brood of another colour which suited it quite as well as the green, 
 which it generally uses. 
 
 Eumenes esuriens, Fabr. (Plate XX. figs. 6 & 6cx.) 
 This beautiful insect builds its cells about doors and windows, on the posts ; and fig. 6 
 may be held to be a typical structure. As, however, I bred them from cells of different 
 forms, there can be no doubt that they vary their style with the site. The cells are high, 
 very spherical, and placed generally irregularly. Green caterpillars (chiefly Geometers) 
 are stowed away, whilst one often finds the cells in the possession of a Golden Wasp 
 {Chrysis), a parasite. The mouth of the cell resembles that of the other species in 
 having a recurved lip, this being characteristic of this group. The reason why so many 
 cells are empty after the escape of the perfect insect is, that the ants come in troops 
 
PEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OE INDIA. 167 
 
 and carry off the skins of the pupa-cases, and any fragment of food they can find, even 
 to the skins of caterpillars and spiders. From the cells not only was one Eamenea 
 hatched, but also a beetle of the genus Emanadia {vide PI. XXII. fig. Ic), and a dip- 
 terous insect, Anthrax % 
 
 EuMENES MAiNPURiENSis, Smith. (Plate XX. figs. 3 & 3 a.) 
 This nest needs little description. It is beautifully made, has the recurved projecting 
 lip like the rest of its congeners, and is constructed of the very finest earth. {Vide 
 PL XX. figs. 3 & 3a.) The cell figured was empty; hence I cannot say positively 
 whether it stores very small caterpillars. The insect much resembles E. coarctata, an 
 English species ; the cells also resemble those of the same insect. Figures are also 
 given of Eumenes edwardsii and its nest {vide PL XX. figs. 4 & 4 a). 
 
 Odtnerus punctum, Sauss. (Plate XX. figs. 7 & 7 a.) 
 This insect, like the others of its genus, avails itself of any hole of suitable size which 
 it can find. In one instance I found a series of six cells (four of them empty, and in 
 two of them dead insects) in the boring of a longicorn beetle ; and I have often observed 
 them taking green caterpillars into the holes left by large screws in door-posts. In the 
 latter case, when the hollow is filled, the opening is covered over most smoothly on a level 
 with the surface of the wood, so as often to escape notice ; for this insect is in general a 
 very neat worker. This covering is sometimes pierced with a hole as fine as that made 
 by a pin, and thus the presence of the ichneumon larva is betrayed. When, however^ it 
 has more room, it most carefully fills up the entire space ; and in the shape of the interior 
 its cells are rounder than those of Megachile^ being thus intermediate in form between 
 them and those of Eumenes^ which builds nearly circular cells. 
 
 These insects work in September and October, and in the latter month appear very 
 actively spying for holes and filling them in when found. Their sting is very sharp; 
 and they appear to affect green caterpillars, Geometers in particular ; in fact I never 
 found any other kind in their cells. 
 
 Khynchium caenaticum, Fabr. (Plate XX. figs. 5 & 5 a.) 
 This insect is very abundant, and may constantly be observed carrying caterpillars to 
 fill its cell, which is made in small hollow bamboos. In the illustration it will be seen 
 that it has taken possession of a hollow in which a Megachile lanata had already con- 
 structed two cells. It first built a floor over the cells, which was constructed of mud, 
 very finely worked, stout at the edges and thinner in the middle. It then left a space 
 empty and made another floor, after which it commenced its breeding-cells. In these it 
 stored caterpillars of many colours ; and it finished off with an empty spare cell, which 
 it covered with a heavy mass of pellets. The clay is kneaded very finely, and, although 
 there are no sides to be made to the cell, the cap is most carefully constructed. 
 
 These insects are a very long time in undergoing their changes ; and they vary much 
 
168 MESSES. C. HOENE AND P. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 in size and colour, doubtless in consequence of obtaining more or less food in their larva- 
 state. Their sting is very sharp; but they do not attack one when disturbed, but 
 
 fly off. 
 
 Rhynchium brunneum, Fabr. 
 
 This insectin its habits resembles its associate B. carnaticum. It uses holes ready 
 prepared— although, having seen it emerge from a gnawed hole in a soft post, the hole 
 being the work of the insect, I believe it sometimes to work for itself in preparing a 
 habitation. Its body is singularly flexible, so that it is almost impossible to hold it, 
 when alive, without being stung by it. 
 
 Ehynchium mtidulum, Fabr. (Plate XX. figs. 1 & 1 a.) 
 This extremely interesting insect constructs cells of exceeding strength, mostly upon 
 timber. The clay is very finely worked with water and some kind of gum— not only 
 viscid ejection being employed, but also the juices of the "Peepul" {Ficus religiosa), bird- 
 lime in fact, and the gum of the Acacia catechu and other trees. Hence there is no 
 need of thickness, and we accordingly find the walls of the chambers very thin, whilst 
 their tenacity is so great that the portion of the hard wood on which the series of cells 
 was fixed I have cut out with a chisel and hammer without in any way injuring the 
 structure. One pair of insects does not usually make more than three cells ; but it 
 must be remembered that they take a much longer time in making them than does the 
 rapid rough-working Megachile. 
 
 The food stored consists of caterpillars ; and I have not yet succeeded in hatching a 
 parasite from one of their nests, which are strong enough to resist all ordinary attacks. 
 Until completed, either one or the other of the insects appears to remain at home (fig. 1); 
 and hence parasites have no opportunity of efiecting an entrance before the cell is closed 
 over. The covering, though thin, is very tough, so tough that I doubt the power of a 
 parasite to pierce it. In the figure it will be observed that six cells have been built one 
 on another, only one being affixed to the door. This one was attached to a smoothly 
 plane surface of "Sal wood" {Shorea robusta)\ so that the cementing gum must have 
 possessed great strength to allow me to cut it out with a hammer and chisel, as before 
 alluded to. 
 
 These insects build on roof-beams, so that their nests generally escape notice, besides 
 which they are far from common. They are externally of a rich brown colour, glisten- 
 ing with gum. 
 
 Pterochilus pulchellus, Smith. (Plate XXI. figs. 8, 8 a, & 8 J.) 
 This little insect builds its parallel galleries on the nearly smooth surfaces of white- 
 washed and other walls. The cells, as shown in the drawing, are above one another, 
 lined with a gummy substance and fine silk {V) The chrysalis resembles that of Pelopcms, 
 to which, however, the insect is altogether unlike. The clay must necessarily, from the 
 
PEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OE INDIA. 169 
 
 size of the insect, be very finely worked ; and the food stored consists of very minute 
 spiders. I have reason to believe that it sometimes builds its cells on hanging straws 
 under shelter ; but the example figured was found in my veranda, built on the walls or 
 pillars, and attached to the plaster. 
 
 Fam. VESPID^. 
 
 ICARU VARIEGATA, Smith. (Plate XX. figs. 8, 8«, & 9.) 
 This pretty little insect lives in small communities, and builds an elegant nest of 
 paper prepared by itself, which is very tough, and attached to leaves, stalks, &c. by 
 thin but strong pedicles. It frequents flowers, and appears to feed on pollen. The 
 posterior segments of the body are very retractile, causing the abdomen to assume 
 a curious truncated appearance. In the example figured on a stalk, the cell-mouths 
 are all upwards, which is strange, as the young grubs, the mouths of whose cells 
 are open to the weather, must need some protection. The same was in a great 
 measure the case with the cells on the Mango leaf. The cells are beautifully regular, 
 being perfect hexagons ; and the strength with which the foot-stalk is fastened is sur- 
 prising. There appears to be used for this portion of the work some kind of gum, with 
 which they cover their plaster ; and this much resembles varnish in appearance. It 
 is probably derived from the Babool or Mango-tree, both of which abounded near 
 Benares, where these nests were found. On one occasion I found a group of these 
 little series of cells hanging in a covered tomb ; they were attached to a stone slab, 
 and all, of course, face downwards. Unfortunately they were old nests and quite empty. 
 They consisted of a series of combs ; and the number of cells in each averaged sixteen 
 only. In this case shelter had evidently been sought, and in the two cases formerly 
 noted the insects were in a measure shielded from the direct influence of the rain by 
 the thickness of the foliage of the Mango-tree above them ; for the habit of this Icaria 
 is, as a rule, to build under shelter. 
 
 In their disposition like the rest of the Vespidse, they fly with one accord to attack 
 the intruder — although their sting was not very sharp, and nearly resembled the prick 
 of a fine pin, and was in a great measure deficient in the burning feeling experienced 
 when stung by their brethren the PoUstidce, 
 
 ICAEIA FERRUGINEA, Fabr. / 
 
 This insect in its habits resembles /. variegata. It feeds its larv^ with ejected juices; 
 hence one never finds any thing but the egg slightly attached to the bottom of the cell, 
 or the more matured grub, which spins itself a silken cocoon over its cell within which 
 to change to a perfect insect. It associates in very large parties, and is extremely 
 vicious when disturbed, and flies at the party interfering with it, hardly ever failing to 
 
 VOL. VII. — PART HI. April, 1870. 2 b 
 
170 MESSES. C. HOKNE AND F. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEKA 
 
 sting him. The pain of the sting resembles burning; and in one case of my taking a 
 nest, when I was severely stung, the pain lasted for four days. I mention this as it is 
 curious to observe the diflferent degree of virulence of the poison of the various small 
 msppi'^ oT '("Tim clSiSS 
 
 The cells extend in masses of great size, and are placed in the midst and amongst the 
 twigs of thick garden bushes. I also believe, from what I have seen, that the comb of 
 one season is not used in another; perhaps it becomes weather-worn and incapable of 
 proper repair. This insect also has, like the /. variegata, a retractile body; and 
 its cells are beautifully regular hexagons. It is much molested by a small class of 
 moths (Tineid^), and also by an Anthrax, In fact the nest lies very open to the 
 attack of parasites, who, as a rule, care nothing for the sharpest stings. The grubs, 
 which I found in abundance and in all stages of growth in October, have rather a 
 singular shape, being almost conical. The perfect insects are much plagued with a 
 species of Stylops, the females of which lie under the scales of the abdomen. I found 
 one piece of comb nearly one foot across each way; but generally the combs are only 
 one-half or two-thirds of this size. 
 
 PoLiSTES HEBR^us, Fabr. 
 
 This insect, which is generally known to residents in India as the ^'Yellow Wasp," 
 is a great nuisance. It is very partial to verandas, and builds its cells on a roof-beam. 
 More often, however, it selects trees near houses, and, if not disturbed, builds enormous 
 nests, continuing year after year in the same place, deserting great parts of its comb 
 as they become useless from age, and building others near to the old ones. The 
 food of this insect is of a very general character, and it dearly loves sugar in any 
 form. 
 
 It has an unpleasant habit of either flying at you if irritated, stinging you as it 
 touches, and then flying on without stopping, or falling from above upon you and 
 performing the same trick. I am told by a friend that the English Hornet does the 
 same. In the case of the Indian Polistes^ however, the sting is not very severe. 
 
 They sometimes select the oddest places for their combs. On one occasion I was 
 moving some tin boxes, when about thirty flew out of one of them at me ; and I found 
 their comb in a corner, inside. They had obtained access through the open window of 
 the store-room. I have often observed the commencement of a comb. 
 
 In the month of November the females newly hatched sit out on sunny days on the 
 tops of Venetian doors and similar situations and buzz for males. Nor do they wait 
 long; for at this season the whole veranda swarms with these Polistes, and I have had 
 thousands of them killed in a morning. Having met with a suitable partner, the ova 
 appear to be impregnated; and not long after, the queen, fully prepared, sets to and 
 buUds a single cell on a stout foot-stalk, lays an egg in it, and proceeds to build three 
 or four more around it, in each of which she lays an egg. 
 
EEOM THE NOETH-WEST PROVINCES OP INDIA. 171 
 
 The young grow very fast, especially at first when so few have to be fed ; and thus in 
 a short time there is a well-peopled colony in which there will be a few males and 
 workers of every size. 
 
 The tops of the cells of the queen wasps are much elongated with silk ; and these 
 insects use some species of gluten wherewith to temper the paper of which the cells are 
 constructed, as well as to solidify the silken cell-coverings. 
 
 They are in the habit of seizing insects and sucking out their juices, wherewith they 
 again feed the voracious young grubs, who are always clamouring for food with open 
 mouths. 
 
 They are extremely troubled with Stylops, every fifth or sixth one taken having a 
 female of one under one of the segments of the abdomen ; and I have sometimes seen 
 two or three on one specimen. I have often tried to breed these Stylops, but invariably 
 failed, the male Stylops being very scarce, and the female, Mr. Smith tells me, never 
 leaving the body of the Polistes. 
 
 This species is so well known that I do not think any further remarks are needed, 
 excepting a short account of the methods by which these troublesome insects are most 
 easily got rid of. 
 
 There is a yellow ant {(Ecophylla smaragdina) which lives a social life, chiefly upon 
 trees, drawing leaves together in a curious manner with silk, and making in this manner 
 large nests in the Mango-trees. These insects sting severely, and they seem to have a 
 great antipathy to the Polistes^ who are very fond of feeding on their poorly protected 
 juicy young grubs. If, therefore, you cut off' a bough with a nest of these ants upon it, 
 tie it to a long bamboo and put it very near to the nest of the Polistes^ there will be a 
 general attack by the former upon the latter. An ant will seize on a wasp and bite 
 and sting him, others also coming up to help. They will together fall to the ground, 
 when the Polistes dies, and the ant {(Ecophylla smaragdina) having taken a sip of hi& 
 blood and juices, runs up again to his nest by a string always left hanging do^vn from 
 the bamboo near to the nest for this purpose. They will also attack hornets. Their 
 native name is " Mata," and they are used by all classes for this purpose. No heat is 
 too great for the Polistes; and in the hottest weather they may be found sitting in large 
 parties by water, evidently enjoying the season. 
 
 These insects possess great vitality, of which the following is an instance : — 
 
 '■Mainpuri, May 28, 1866. — Here is an instance of vitality. Last evening (7 p.m.) I 
 caught a Polistes at the edge of my scissor-net, when the frames meeting took off his 
 head. The body remained lively till half-past ten, p.m., when I went to bed; the 
 wings vibrated, and the sting was constantly protruded ; but next morning I found him 
 cold and stiff". It is thus that many persons are stung ; for they count the insects dead, 
 and take them up unwittingly." 
 
 2b 2 
 
172 MESSES. C. HOENE AKD E. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 PoLiSTES STIGMA, Fabr. 
 
 This insect frequents sheltered places, such as the verandas of houses, and is 
 extremely common. The description of the comb and the construction of its dwelling, 
 as given under P. h^^^us, appUes also to P. stigma. It does not, however, attack so 
 viciously as some others, and stings only when much interfered with. Its cells are 
 beautifiiUy regular hexagons, and, although very Ught, are of the strongest fabric, being 
 of a paper made bv the insect. In its various stages it bears a great resemblance to 
 P. hebr(eus. August, September, and October are its favourite months for working, 
 although it may be seen busily employed at most times during the rains. 
 
 Its food consists of small insects, which it eats and prepares for its young. 
 
 The cells of the females are longer than those of the workers and males, and their 
 silken covers project much above the ordinary surface of the comb. 
 
 They are much troubled with Stylops; and I have occasionally bred from their combs 
 specimens of small moths, chiefly of the Tineidse, several species of which appear to be 
 universal feeders. 
 
 Vespa velutixa, St. Farg. 
 
 This very handsome wasp builds a huge nest, hanging on the boughs of trees, mostly 
 at a great height from the ground. Of its nest there are two handsome specimens in 
 the nest-room of the British Museum. The communities are verj' numerous, and it is 
 most dangerous to meddle with their nests, A bullet incautiously put through one 
 brings down a swarm of tiie inhabitants, whose stings are most venomous and often 
 dangerous to life. They will follow a party for miles through the densest jungle, and 
 are said often to kill animals and, even, men- 
 
 A nest I measured exceeded 4 feet in length, and, when the outer covering was broken 
 away, showed range upon range of cells ; but the extreme difficulty of bringing it to 
 England compelled me to abandon it. 
 
 They frequent flowers and carry off insects of all kinds wherewith to feed their young ; 
 and a wall covered with roses at a house in the Himalehs, 6500 feet above the sea, was 
 a very favourite resort. They then flew off, often many miles, to their nests. 
 
 Appended (p. 190) is a description by Mr. Smith of an allied species (F. vivas), appa- 
 rentiy new, the habite of which are the same as those of F. velutina. 
 
 Vespa orikxtaus, linn. 
 Yespa cixcta, Fabr. 
 The same notes will apply to both these species, which, I believe, to be already well 
 known. They build their nests of prepared earth, strongly impregnated with some 
 viscid substance, probably derived from the gums of trees. 
 
 In confirmation of the above, I may remark that I have often seen them sitting appa- 
 rentiy eating the gum of the Acacia (catechu) and also the flowing juice of the Peepul 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 173 
 
 {Ficus indica), and, as they are in general carnivorous, it must have been for some such 
 purpose. At the same time there appears to be some woody or, at least, vegetable fibre 
 mixed with the earth. 
 
 The cells are regular hexagons, and built from an hexagonal ground-plan — a fact 
 which confirms Mr. Smith's observations to the same efiect ; and the whole structure 
 often assumes a large size. One found by me was 10" X 9" X 9^^', in the centre of a wall 
 composed of sun-burnt bricks, in a hollow which had originally been excavated by 
 Termites and afterwards enlarged by the hornets, as they are popularly called. 
 
 I have often seen these insects pounce upon a sitting fly, just as a hawk would do on 
 a small bird, and they are also very fond of ripe fruit, such as peaches, grapes, and 
 apples. The Vespa velutina also indulges in these luxuries, and is especially fond of 
 the hill-apricot. 
 
 The stings of four or five of these insects are said to be sufficiently powerful to kill a 
 child ; but, as in all such cases, much must depend on the circumstances. 
 
 The outside of th^ nest is, as is usual with wasps, covered with a coating of loose 
 paper. 
 
 It is highly dangerous to disturb a colony of these insects ; and as they work in gangs 
 at night, it is somewhat hazardous even then to take their nests. As, however, they 
 greatly affect outhouses, it is most necessary to destroy them, as horses have been said 
 to have been stung to death by them; but for this I cannot vouch. 
 
 I will here quote in ewtenso from my note-book the notes which refer to Indian 
 Hornets^ by which terms both F. cincta and F. orientalis are designated, dated : — 
 
 "August 15, 1863. — These insects are very abundant at Benares, in India, but not 
 generally spiteful. One may see hundreds of them flying round the sweetmeat stalls, 
 like wasps in the fruit-shops in England ; and the vendor drives them away with a 
 whisk, a piece of palm-leaf, or a cloth, and is very rarely stung. If one, however, be in- 
 cautiously touched, the sting is very suddenly given and very sharp ; its pain is intense, 
 and it induces considerable inflammation. They make their nests in the mud walls ; 
 and the form of these is just like that of the English Hornet. 
 
 " Yesterday I was drying some sugar in the sun ; and this attracted a large number 
 of them. My man killed many, throwing down their bodies on the spot, when the 
 ants appeared to carry off the carcasses ; but not only did the ants so employ themselves, 
 for the hornets alighted also and carried off their dead brethren as food ! The ants 
 {(Ecophylla sntaragdina) appear to be naturally very destructive to these insects. These 
 ants live both in the ground and in nests made of leaves of trees drawn together. 
 
 " I have seen the hornets trying to carry off their tiny tormentors. Again and again 
 have they darted at them ; but it invariably ended either in the hornet quietly sitting 
 down amongst his enemies to be bitten or stung to death and then carried off in 
 triumph to be eaten by them, or in his falling to the ground with three or four ants 
 hanging on, when his fate was equally certain. 
 
174 MESSES. C. HOENE AND E. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 " One of these insects stung me on the thumb ; but by sucking the place for about a 
 quarter of an hour I drew out the poison, and the pain and swelling were afterwards 
 very slight. 
 
 " August 20, 1863.— This evening, having prepared two large squibs filled with damp 
 gunpowder, I proceeded to take two nests, one of V, orientalis and one of F. cincta, 
 both in similar situations. Having lighted the touch-paper, the end was placed at the 
 mouth of the hole and wet clay was plastered around. The dense smoke and intense 
 heat thus killed every perfect insect in the nests, which I shortly after dug out for 
 the purpose of examination. One nest was buried forthwith in a hole previously 
 prepared ; and the one taken to be set up was that of F. orientalis^ to which all the 
 succeeding remarks will refer. 
 
 "Both nests were constructed of earth tempered with water, and I could trace no 
 signs of gluten of any kind in them. In the nest prepared by me were seven ranges of 
 cells; and at the time of taking it, from 400 to 500 hornets were at home. Although I 
 took out every dead perfect insect, there were from forty to fifty nearly hatched by 
 5 A.M. next morning, showing with what enormous rapidity they increase. The nest 
 was placed under a large wire dish-cover, and a nest of the yellow ant before referred to 
 was placed with them, so that every young hornet was kUled as soon as born. 
 
 "July 1, 1864, Benares. — As a boy, when in England, I have watched a homet carry 
 off a fly sitting on a door-handle ; and to-day I saw one pounce on a small honey-bee 
 deep in the pollen of a flower, and, taking him off, sit down and eat him quietly ; and 
 from the number hovering about flowers, this would seem to be a favourite food. 
 
 "July 19, 1864. — ^Watched hornets catching and eating the workers oi Termites, 
 whose galleries I had just destroyed on the bark of a tree, where, in consequence, the 
 blind insects were running wildly about. 
 
 "August 19, 1864. — Watched them more narrowly and carefully. Saw that one 
 caught at least ten Termites, one after the other, and made them all up into a ball with 
 his jaws, when the said ball was taken away, evidently to feed the young larv« with a 
 rich and juicy morsel, which, however, would be strongly tinctured with acid." 
 
 Vespa flaviceps. Smith. (Plate XXI. figs. 10 & 11.) 
 This interesting little wasp lives in banks, making a cylindrical nest covered with 
 party-coloured paper, and filled internally by layer upon layer of cells, seven or eight 
 series generally completing the structure. They were found at Binsur, a mountain 
 about twelve miles from Almorah, about 7500 feet above the sea, in nests about 2 feet 
 under ground, and built up round some root. 
 
 The time of their greatest activity is in the rains {I e. July), and they may then be 
 seen coming in and going out of the nest in great numbers. 
 
 One of the nests taken was at the side of a garden-walk; and for some ten or fifteen 
 days none could pass that way without a good chance of being stung. Although the 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OE INDIA. 175 
 
 queen had been captured, they continued to build cells and repair the injuries done, 
 very neatly uniting the broken bit of covering paper which had been left. 
 
 These wasps were often to be seen in flowers on the hill-side, and they appeared to 
 feed freely on fruit and on insects found on the pollen of flowers. 
 
 The construction of the pillars of the nest was very neat, light and at the same time 
 strong. No clay would appear to be used in the making of the cells, which were of 
 regular waste-paper, the structure of which is of vegetable fibre. 
 
 I took many specimens from a nest in a bank on the footpath which led to the top 
 of the mountain. At first they were very quiet ; but after a day or two, directly any one 
 approached they would fly at him if he stood but a moment near to the mouth of their 
 nest. Their instinct of memory is most strange. Their stings are irritating, but not in 
 any way dangerous to man, although it was by wasps of this species that a full-grown 
 sheep belonging to a resident of Ranee Khet, near Almorah, was killed. The animal 
 had doubtless trodden on an entrance to a nest, or pulled up some plant in feeding, 
 and so disturbed them. 
 
 I had proposed to append a few notes relative to the parasites of these insects ; bnt 
 on second thought, I have briefly alluded to each in my notes on the species it afiects. 
 The genus Chrym is largely represented ; and there appears to be one of suitable size 
 for each species of hymenopterous insect, so as to fit the cells. 
 
 Fam. APID^. 
 
 LiTHURGUS DENTIPES, Smith. 
 
 This insect in general appearance much resembles a Megachile ; but its coloration is 
 quite distinct. Its habits, however, are very similar, although the clay would seem to 
 be in general worked smoother. A favourite position for placing cells is the gallery 
 formed by the grub of some longicorn beetle in timber. In one case there were two 
 entrances; and in consequence some of the cells had been constructed to face one way, 
 and some the other, thus providmg for the more comfortable exit of the perfect insect. 
 
 When considering the working of the ceUs of these insects, it is necessary to bear in 
 mind the position in which they are placed : e. g. in case no. 12 the spiraUy twisted series 
 is quite as rough exteriorly as those of M. lanata, whHst in cases 1 and 2, being pressed 
 for room, the work necessarily appears smoother. 
 
 This insect seldom builds mud-daubs on the walls, and generally takes ready-made 
 hoUows for its building-purposes, although I have seen them working under the seat of 
 a chair and on a rough part of a wall. 
 
 In all its habits it resembles M. lanata, and therefore no more remarks upon it wUl 
 
 be called for. 
 
176 MESSES. C. HOENE AND P. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 Megachile lanata, Fabr. (Plate XIX. figs. 11, 11 a, & 11 b.) 
 
 This insect is found in almost every house in the North-west Provinces, and, next to 
 the black and yellow Pelopceus {madraspatanm), is the one which attracts most notice. 
 
 The season in which it builds its cells is from March to November; but July and 
 August {i.e. during the rainy season) are its favourite months. These cells are placed 
 in every conceivable situation ; and it is curious, when sitting quietly writing, to watch 
 the insect coming and going with his material. He or she is so deeply interested in 
 the work that all fear is forgotten, and they will work within a foot of your writing- 
 desk. The mud is carried, so to speak, under the head and in part supported by the 
 fore legs, and is not so finely worked up as that of the Pelopceus ; hence we find the 
 work much rougher exteriorly, although the inside of the cell is carefully smoothed. 
 I have had a newspaper lying on the table and heard them working inside the folds ; 
 in short there is no position too strange for the nest. 
 
 The following are a few of the positions in which I have found them : — 
 
 1. Between folds of paper; 2. in the back pf a book which had been left lying open ; 
 3. on the handle of a tea-cup ; 4. in the keyhole of a door ; 5. in the barrel of a gun ; 
 6. under a fan on the table; 7. in the hollow of a bolt of a window, where three times 
 the whole structure was crushed by the use of the said bolt in the absence of the 
 insect; 8. on a signet ring from which the stone had fallen out; 9. on the frill of a large 
 fan or punka, which was kept in motion ten or twelve hours out of the twenty-four. 
 
 I will now proceed with the method of working. Both sexes appear to labour ; for I 
 have sometimes caught a worker, and found that the work was immediately continued, 
 which was not the case with the Pelopceus. They come and go incessantly, with a loud 
 buzzing ; and whilst they are tempering the clay they keep up the motion, thereby 
 advertising the locality where they are working, although often the exact spot is even 
 then difficult to find. The tenacity with which the clay adheres to substances is very 
 curious (although the cells of the insects of the genus Rhynchium afibrd a better 
 instance) ; and I believe that when the clay, having been first prepared at the water, is 
 brought into use, it is inspissated with some glutinous substance ejected by the insect. 
 It is certainly very carefully kneaded again by many of the clay-cell-builders. The 
 cells are built side by side, with very little cohesion, and are stocked with bee-bread 
 and closed by three or four pellets of mud, united in such a manner as to leave thin 
 edges next to the lips or upper edges, and thus enable the insect easily to escape. The 
 outside is in general rough and adapted to the situation in which it is built. It is 
 scarcely ever truly circular on the outside, even if built free from obstruction. 
 
 Amongst the figures will be observed a solitary cell built in a signet-ring. The 
 power of instinct shown here is very great; for to keep the cell secure the clay has been 
 made larger at the base, where it projects interiorly in the ring. 
 
 This insect is very annoying from the manner it chokes up small openings, such as 
 barrels of firearms and locks of drawers, in the latter case entering by the keyhole. 
 
PEOM THE N0ETH-WE8T PEOVIlSrCES OE INDIA. 177 
 
 I watched the construction of four cells in June 1863 ; and the perfect insects were 
 matured August 12, 14, 15, and 16 respectively. This would show, what is really the 
 case, that the cells take about a day each to construct. In fact, in one case noted by 
 me, a cell was commenced, finished, stored with food, and closed within certainly ten 
 hours, which is quite possible if both sexes work, as I believe to be the case. 
 
 Sometimes, however, a hollow bamboo is the situation selected by this insect. If it 
 be tolerably thick there is room for several cells ; and they are built from the bottom of 
 the hollow upwards, either in a straight line or spirally (vide PL XIX.). In either 
 case I believe the single series to be constructed, and the second series commenced 
 from the very bottom on the completion of the first. In some cases there are as many 
 as eight or ten cells in each line ; and probably more than one pair of insects are con- 
 cerned in this double series. 
 
 And this leads me to one of the great difiiculties in observing this class of insects. 
 There are many parasites, one or two of which will be hereafter noted. Many, too, of 
 the wasp class seize on cells and fill them with caterpillars or spiders, so that one some- 
 times finds one cell with bee-bread in it, and another, undoubtedly made by the same 
 Megachile^ filled with insects stored probably by a Pelopceus. 
 
 There are also dipterous insects (Anthrax) who pierce the cell-cap and deposit an egg 
 in the food, their larvse feeding on the grub of the bee ; so that when one keeps them 
 to watch the insects emerge, most strange results follow. 
 
 Mr. F. Smith tells me that the lower cells of the series above mentioned in bamboos 
 are those of females, which sex takes longer to develop, and that thus an exit is not 
 required for them so soon as for the occupants of the upper cells, which are males. 
 It had often puzzled me how this was managed. 
 
 Megachile proxima, Smith. 
 
 This insect is so similar to Megachile lanata that had I not caught one with a cut 
 leaf of the Clitoria creeper in its mouth, and traced another to its burrows, I had held 
 it to have been that insect. 
 
 Digging between three or four inches in the soft soil I found two cells one over the 
 other. They were composed of these cuttings, four or five folds of leaf, and quite 
 loosely put together. . Within was a mass of bee-bread, with a young grub head down- 
 ward in the midst. This grub was almost transparent, and cylindrical in form. 
 
 When opening one of the cells of this insect, I observed that it appeared to be lined 
 with a finer and lighter-coloured leaf than that which constituted its external covering. 
 Mr. F. Smith tells me that he found this to be the case with an English species 
 (M. argentata) ; I have therefore held the fact to be worthy of note. 
 
 As i have observed a bee of this species entering a hollow bamboo of suitable 
 diameter with a piece of leaf in his mouth, I have reason to believe that they avail 
 themselves of such situations as well as of the ground. All this class of insects, 
 
 VOL. VTi. — PART III. April, 1870. 2 c 
 
178 MESSES. C. HOENE AND E. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 although generally consistent as to food, vary much, according to circumstances, m the 
 places where they build their homes. Only one pair work together ; and they are not at 
 all social, although working often in the closest proximity. 
 
 Megachile fasciculata, Smith. (Plate XIX. figs. 1-10.) 
 This fine bee may be observed on the rose-bushes, steadily cutting out portions of the 
 leaf. Each portion is of the same shape, which may be observed in the figure of the 
 leaf; and the work is done in a very rapid manner. There are long pieces and circular 
 ones, the latter being for the caps of the cell. From their size, these bees are easily 
 traced to their nests, which are placed in any suitable hollow; but their favourite posi- 
 tion is between bricks in masonry in places where the mortar has fallen out, and I have 
 often taken out series of cells laid side by side in long lines measuring seven or eight 
 inches and containing perhaps fifteen cells each. 
 
 From observation, I should think that one pair of these insects will construct from thirty 
 to forty cells. These cells are very nearly the size and shape of a common thimble ; and 
 some that I examined contained thirty-two pieces of leaf, being of seven thicknesses, 
 besides three round tops each, placed one over another. The leaf employed was in this 
 case that of the " urhur" plant, a large Indian pulse {Cajanus indicus) which grew in the 
 field close by, and which is very soft and easy to cut ; but in another instance, which is 
 also figured with this paper, the material consisted of the leaves of the rose Edwards 
 {vide PL XIX. fig. 7). This mass of cells, in which there are no less than seven series, 
 was in the ornamental ear of a garden vase, into which I had observed the insect carry- 
 ing leaves {vide PL XIX. fig, 1). 
 
 The cells are carefully constructed ; and the interior pieces of leaf appear to be slightly 
 cemented together by some fluid, ejected by the insect, of a gummy nature. The exterior 
 leaves are quite loose, but hold firmly together on account of the manner in which they 
 are dove-tailed, each one overlapping the other, as is clearly shown in the figure {vide 
 PL XIX. fig. 4). Directly one cell is completed, a very large quantity of bee-bread is 
 collected and stored, filling nearly half of it. The lining and exterior leaves of the cell 
 appeared to be constructed of the same quality of leaf An egg is then laid on the 
 top, in the middle of the mass of food, from which the grub emerges a semitransparent 
 cylindrical sac with a little black head. It rapidly increases in> size, as shown in the 
 Plate, where the subsequent changes being figured they need no further description. The 
 head remains attached to the food, which, entering at the mouth, passes out as excre- 
 ment above ; this, when the grub spins its cocoon, is excluded. This spinning is effected 
 after the larva has consolidated the inner surface of the cell with what looks like dark 
 glue ; and the said cocoon is an extremely tough one, and fit to resist the attacks of all 
 parasites, by which these bees are much molested. Between the consolidation of the 
 wall of the cell and the cocoon remain the exuvise, which, as before mentioned, have 
 been voided upwards. 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OE IKDIA. 179 
 
 In the excrement of the Grey Hornbill (Meniceros Mcornis) I have found the wings 
 and body-plates of this bee, together with the remains of other species ; so that it is clear 
 that this omnivorous bird eats them, catching them probably when they come to feed on 
 the juices of the broken figs (Ficus religiosa). 
 
 The changes take a long time ; and as the construction of the cells is generally accom- 
 plished in October to November, the perfect insect does not usually come out until the 
 following March, or even later. 
 
 Like all these bees, this species is perfectly fearless when engaged in building, and, 
 from its strength and size, is not often attacked by any bird, although it is probable that 
 the mice cut open the cells for the bee-bread, of which they are very fond. This has a 
 sweet taste, mingled with a slight acridity, as has that of M. lanata^ and would be fine 
 feeding for mice, which abound in the localities generally chosen by the bee for its nest. 
 
 The concluding remarks on M, lanata will doubtless apply to this insect, as regards 
 the precedence of emergence. 
 
 In a series of cells which I sent to England, taken immediately after construction, the 
 insects came out irregularly ; but this was owing to the fact that the occupants of some 
 cells died, so that those below them had to eat their way out of the sides, which they 
 could not have done had the said cells been in situ^ and not packed loosely in a box 
 with cotton wool, 
 
 \Note, — In my catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects, part 1. Andrenidse and Apidse, 
 published by the Trustees of the British Museum, the male of this insect was described 
 as a distinct species from the female ; the former was named M. fasciculata, the latter 
 M, anthradna. — Fkedk. Smith.] 
 
 Megachile disjuncta, Fabr. (Plate XIX. figs. 12 & 12 a.) 
 This insect in its habits agrees with M. lanata. In general appearance it is also very 
 similar as regards form. The colour, however, is quite distinct, the broad band from 
 which it takes its specific name being very marked. It makes clay cells separately, and 
 also fills up the hollows of small bamboos with cells one over the other. In one instance 
 I found four series of cells side by side in one bamboo ; and in this case two of the cells 
 had been appropriated by a P^/qp^ws— remains of spiders and the pupa-case of one of 
 this genus being found in them. Their great enemies are the Chrysidites, or Golden 
 Wasps; these take possession of the ready-made cells, and prey on the larvae of the 
 bee. They work at the same season as M. lanata, but are not so common. 
 
 Xylocopa chloropteka, St. Farg. (Plate XXII. figs. 1, 1 a, & 1 b.) 
 This fine bee may be heard buzzing in the veranda all day long, selecting hollow 
 bamboos in which to store his bee-bread. The weight of this is surprising. That from 
 one cell alone weighed 21 grains ; and this was taken at random. 
 
 When once a suitable hollow has been selected, the insect begins to store food. The 
 
 2c2 
 
180 MESSES. C. HORNE AND E. SMITH ON HrMENOPTEEA 
 
 female then lays an egg on the top of the same, and both male and female set to work 
 gnawing at the interior near the mouth of the opening of the bamboo for saw-dust. 
 This they work up with some viscous fluid which is ejected from the mouth, and form 
 therewith a firm floor for the next cell. This floor is much thicker at the sides, where 
 it joins the bamboo, than in the middle: the perfect insect, when emerging, has strong 
 jaws, and his head is in the middle of the cell ; he can therefore easily moisten and cut 
 through this thin centre. 
 
 The cocoon is very strongly spun; and a long time elapses ere the perfect insect 
 emerges. After all the work is finished (and these insects generally cease working at 
 the end of October), they appear to retire into hollow bamboos to hybernate or die. 
 Later on in the season I have opened bamboos and found six or seven, one after another, 
 all dead ; whilst at other times I have found them in a state of stupor caused by the 
 cold. The young, I have reason to believe, do not come out until the spring. Their 
 chief enemy is a species of Coelionyx^ of which three were hatched, together with about 
 fourteen bees, from one series of cells. 
 
 This species often burrows in soft " seenul" wood {Bombax heptaphyllum) (which is 
 used in the building of outhouses), and can then be detected by the heap of coarse 
 raspings under the hole. The bee-bread is very pleasant to the taste, with a slight 
 subacid, and keeps good for a very long time. I am not aware that this bee ever works 
 in living timber. 
 
 The insect in the larva-state is often destroyed by a minute Chalcididous insect of the 
 genus Eucyrtus. From one single specimen I bred 300 of these insects ; and two-thirds 
 of those I tried to rear were destroyed by them. 
 
 ''Mainpuri, July 10, 1865. — I was somewhat interested to-day in watching the 
 shower of lovely yellow blossoms falling from a fine bush of a beautiful flower, and by 
 observing how it was caused. I noticed the large black Bee {Xylocopa chloroptera) 
 cutting the tube of the corolla, and inserting its tongue for the honey which abounded 
 there ; the flower immediately after fell ; and amongst the hundreds on the ground I 
 could not find one which was not so bitten." 
 
 Xtlocopa ^stuans, Linn. 
 The habits of this insect are so exactly like those of X. chloroptera that they need 
 little further account. They use bamboos for their cells, and make divisions with 
 raspings from the interior. I found three or four of these bees in company with three 
 or four of X. chloroptera in the same hollow bamboo. When they cannot find a 
 bamboo, they use any hole in a post or tree for the construction of their cells. I have 
 also found them dead in bamboos, whither they had resorted to hybernate or die ; but 
 as their pupae remain a very long time in their cases ere they emerge, the supply in 
 any case is well kept up, and the insect is a common one. Various species of Anthrax 
 and Coelioxys are their great parasitical enemies. 
 
* PEOM THE NOETH-WEST PROVINCES OF INDIA. 181 
 
 Apis plokalis, Fabr. (Plate XXII. figs. 2, 2 a, 2 5, & 2 c.) 
 This is a very interesting little bee, which builds its beautiful comb on the boughs of 
 orange- and lemon-trees and garden bushes generally. The honey is much prized, and 
 held by the natives to possess medicinal qualities. It is very harmless ; and although I 
 have handled them freely, I never remember to have been stung by one. I procured 
 two queens by taking the nests with all the bees in them into a dark room with a small 
 window ; the bees gradually flew to the window, and I thus easily found the queen. 
 The males are seldom with the nest ; and out of some twenty I only met with them in two 
 cases. I imagine they are driven out when they have performed their functions, as my 
 gardener told me he often found them on and in the ground under the nests. In their 
 general habits they entirely agree with A. dorsata ; the only difference is that they 
 select the inside of bushes, and loop their nest round the bough, instead of entirely 
 hanging it on below, I have occasionally found nests of this species built in the 
 interior of mud walls, in the cavities between bricks, or in the hollows excavated by 
 Termites. 
 
 The wax is of a fine yellow colour ; but so little of it is found as not to make it worth 
 while to collect it for commercial purposes. 
 
 Their nests are infested by several moths, species of Pampelia, Aphomia, and Galleria 
 having been bred by me from them. 
 
 Apis doesata, Fabr. (Plate XXII. figs. 3, 3 a, & 3 b.) 
 
 This is perhaps the best-known of the Indian honey-bees. It is extensively kept in 
 a domestic state in the Himalehs, in hives generally consisting of hollow logs of wood 
 buUt into the houses. Much honey is collected and brought for sale, especially at 
 Petwaghur, in Kumaon ; and the wax is also an article of trade. This bee, when in a 
 wild state, is most savage in its disposition, and is very easily provoked, in which case it 
 saUies forth in large parties, pounces on the supposed offender, and often causes great 
 injury and annoyance. 
 
 The Moth {Galleria mellolella) will be hereafter described as a parasite; but its 
 appearance in a large comb of three years' standing, and the consequent flight of the 
 bees, gave me the opportunity of recording the following note : — 
 
 "Nov. 13, 1866, at Mainpuri.— My head gardener, an inteUigent man, came to me 
 reporting that all the bees had swarmed off, leaving entirely deserted a very large comb 
 of the common honey-bee, which was hanging to a branch of a tree. I at once pro- 
 ceeded to the spot, and, after examining the comb with a glass, found his statement to 
 be correct. I also tracked the bees, which had alighted in a very large swarm on a 
 tree about half a mile off On cutting down the comb I found it to be 28^ inches 
 across by 22 inches, and nearly 5 inches thick at its thickest part. It was about three 
 years old, as was plainly shown by the varied colour of the new ranges of cells. 
 
182 MESSES. C. HOENE AND T. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 inches. 
 
 "Measurements: — General breadth 28 2 
 
 General length 22 
 
 General thickness 1^ 
 
 Diameter of cell Te 
 
 Depth of honey-cell Is 
 
 Depth of ordinary cell tb" *^ Te 
 
 Number of cells ^l^^^ 
 
 Honey cells, about 2000 
 
 '' This nest had been deserted on account of the attacks of a Moth, figured in 
 PI. XXII. fig. 3c, which had fairly taken possession of the citadel, as I have often seen 
 in other instances. The cocoons of some of the escaped moths protruded | of an inch 
 above the level of the comb, which, as it then was, still weighed three pounds." 
 
 I remember at Bareilly, in 1856, as Mr. Berkeley was sitting in his veranda, on the 
 roof-beam of which a comb of these bees was hanging, he saw them assembling in great 
 commotion, and soon after all swarmed off. He sent me the comb forthwith, and I 
 made careful notes upon it, which were destroyed in the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. 
 In this instance the comb was beautifully clean and semitransparent, one of the first 
 year, and, held between the eye and the light, did not at first reveal any thing. The eggs 
 were there, the seeds of destruction ; and I watched it day by day till it all crumbled 
 down into a mass of silk and exuviae, some forty or fifty moths having been meanwhile 
 hatched therefrom. In this case it is clear that the bees fled at the first attack of the 
 quiet little moths. But to return to the Mainpuri nest. 
 
 " The mouths of the thick new honey-cells were quite circular from the quantity of 
 wax applied ; those of the pupa-cells were hexagonal, as, of course, were the walls of 
 the honey-cells interiorly. The Moth had deposited its eggs at the bottom of the cells 
 prepared for storing honey ; and the grubs were working their straight galleries in the 
 flooring between the cells, always working at right angles, and at present feeding on the 
 wax. As they proceeded they wove themselves silken tubes, probably for the purpose 
 of protection." 
 
 As, however, they grew larger and stronger they formed their galleries right through 
 the cells, not touching the flooring-wax ; and they then spun over the mouth of the cells 
 and changed to the pupa-state. About sixteen moths had escaped from these pupa- 
 cases which had been spun up in the cells and which protruded from them ; and many 
 caterpillars were then working within the comb. 
 
 The habits of these bees have been so often described, that I shall now only mention 
 their plan of covering certain cells scattered over the comb, presenting a curious appear- 
 ance on its face, which led me to examine them. On one side I counted 186 of such 
 closed cells, and on the other 229, making a total of 415, which appears a large 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PROVINCES OF INDIA. 183 
 
 number. I opened many of these, and found them to contain beautifully preserved re- 
 mains of bees in various stages, whatever their age may have been at the time of death. 
 
 The grub of Oalleria mellolella^ the moth above referred to, is of a dull green, very 
 circular, and somewhat tough ; and it appears to eat the young bees, the bee-bread, 
 honey, or wax, as may come most handy. 
 
 I will now give a few instances of their disposition: — 
 
 " A curious accident occurred at this place on Sunday last. A number of bees had 
 built upon the cornice round the tower of the church of St. Paul's, in the Civil Lines, 
 just below the steeple. On Sunday, after the morning service, the bees, disturbed 
 either by a pellet or a stone thrown into their midst, or from some other cause, suddenly 
 attacked a pair of horses in a carriage and stung them so severely that both the animals 
 died the next day. The coachman also was severely stung. It was considered unsafe 
 to hold divine service in the church again that day." — Agra, April 14, 1867. 
 
 On another occasion my camp was pitched at Soj, October 19, 1866, under a large 
 Peepul tree. In the camp was my riding elephant, which animal is very fond of the 
 leaves and small boughs of this tree. To enable him to enjoy them he was fastened 
 under the tree, which he shook considerably in his endeavour to break off branches ; 
 this disturbed a nest of bees who had an enormous comb high on one of the branches. 
 At first three or four bees came down to see ; they flew back, and brought down some 
 fifty or sixty with them : these did not attack the Elephant, but stung almost every one 
 in camp, cattle grazing near, and even a stray dog, which I think they killed. 
 
 The strangest thing was that a man lying quite unprotected and fast asleep (named 
 Cheda), clad with only a waistcloth, was quite unmolested ; and I have often employed 
 him to take the nests of aculeate hymenoptera for me, as they do not harm him, what- 
 ever he does. How is this to be accounted for'? The natives say that he smells 
 offensively to insects. 
 
 I will give two more instances. The bees, in February 1865, had formed their comb 
 on a large tree near the old bridge (on the Grand Trunk Road at Mainpuri) over the 
 river Esa, in a grove of trees at the road-side where travellers usually encamp when 
 marching. My servants were so encamped when attacked by the bees, who had pro- 
 bably been disturbed by the smoke of their cooking-fires. 
 
 As Hindoos eat very lightly clad, they got sorely stung. One was nearly drowned in 
 the river in his endeavours to keep under the water and so evade them ; another ran 
 between two and three miles, and was found by the villagers (who took him for a 
 maniac) sitting on the ground throwing sand over himself. 
 
 It is generally an hour or two ere quiet is restored ; and the pertinacity of the insects 
 in following a person is very extraordinary. They espy the smallest bare spot and 
 instantly implant their stings. 
 
 They also cause great annoyance, and disfigure old buildings, such as the Taj Mehal 
 at Agra, with their pendent combs. Many vain attempts have been made to clear them 
 
] 84 MESSES. C. HOENE AND F. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 from the beautiful white marble arches ; but as soon as a nest is destroyed it is renewed 
 at a few feet distance. They sometimes choose cupboards to buxld their nests in; and 
 when in one case they had made their comb in one in daily use, they molested no one. 
 This was at Nynee Tal, in the veranda of a house called Maldon, now the Govern- 
 
 ment House. 
 
 The manner in which these bees adhere, after having planted their stings, as com- 
 pared with the habits of the Polistes, is worthy of note, although of course every one 
 knows how often they leave their stings behind them in the wound, and thus meet 
 
 their own death. 
 
 In one case of an attack by bees in the camp of Mr. B. W. Colvin, Magistrate, of 
 Mainpuri, they looked, I am told, like a black mass of insects on the clothes on the 
 backs of our men, upon which they had alighted ; and in this case, I imagine, most of 
 them were unable to withdraw their stings from the cotton-cloth jackets in which they 
 had fixed them. 
 
 Besides the moth before alluded to, these insects have many enemies. Merops 
 viridis (the Bee-eater) plays sad havoc amongst them ; but in the hills, at least, the 
 lizards, who live in the cracks of the rocks and in the hollows in the stone walls, are 
 still more destructive. 
 
 Colonel H. Ramsay, C.B., the Commissioner of Kumaon, with whom I was staying 
 last year, near Almorah, North-west Province, settled many hives in trunks of trees 
 covered up with stones, but could make nothing of them by reason of the lizards, the 
 large blue species so common in the Himaleh, probably Tiliqua rufescens. These 
 animals would lie in wait and snap up the bees, regardless of their stings, as they 
 alighted at the hive ; in fact, they fairly destroyed several swarms. 
 
 Again, the Crested Honey-Buzzard [Pernis cristata), a small hawk, darts down on 
 the comb and carries off a large portion in its claws, which, in spite of the bees, who 
 fly at and attack it on all sides, it quietly eats on a neighbouring bough. How it 
 escapes their stings I could never make out. I once also saw a nest of Icaria taken 
 off a cornice just as I was preparing to secure it, having brought a ladder for the 
 purpose ; and these insects sting even more viciously than the bees. 
 
 Again, in the hills, as all know, the bears make prodigious efforts to get at the comb 
 and honey when in trees. They also eat, I believe, the grubs and bee-bread; and 
 although they seem annoyed, they care little for the bee-stings. These insects often 
 hang their combs under rocks where no bear can touch them, and where they are also 
 well sheltered from the weather. 
 
 Mr. F. Moore, of the India Office, has kindly and carefully compared the Galleria 
 of the North-west Provinces with the specimen of the English species in the British 
 Museum, and holds it to be the same insect, viz. Galleria mellolella— which is a very 
 curious fact, the more so as this species extends over the whole of the North-western 
 Provinces of India. The native name of this bee in the North-west Provinces is Dingar. 
 
TEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 185 
 
 Trigona ruficornis, Smith. 
 
 This is one of the smallest honey-bees I have ever met with ; and its habits are curious. 
 I noticed it under the following circumstances ; and I never again met with its nest, 
 although the natives all know it. One evening, at Benares (April 4, 1863), as I was 
 standing at my door I saw a swarm of from 400 to 500 of what I took to be midges 
 i-apidly flying about in a mazy kind of dance, occupying a space of five or six feet, and 
 being about ten feet from the ground. I brought out my insect-net and caught about 
 a hundred in one sweep, when, to my surprise, they proved to be bees. On watching 
 them I observed that they went in and out of a little hole in the wall close by, under a 
 beam where was a hollow, and that many of their thighs were laden with pollen. 
 
 The insects seemed quite harmless, walking about my hand and not attempting to 
 sting. Digging out some bricks with care, I came on a portion of their nest. The 
 space it occupied appeared to have been originally eaten out by Termites. It was 
 coated on all sides with a layer of black wax, and in it was stored their honey. The 
 waxen cells were of a dark brown colour and very globular, pendent side by side from 
 the roof, and not, as far as I could see, arranged hexagonally. 
 
 The honey was very dark in colour, but excellent in flavour; and I was told by the 
 natives that it possessed medicinal qualities. It had a slight astringency; and, con- 
 sidering the size of the insect, the quantity stored was very large. I was also told that 
 these insects commonly use hollow trees, in which they store astonishing quantities of 
 honey, which is diligently sought for and highly prized. They called them ''Bhonga," 
 which appears to me to be a generic name for all bees in the North-west Provinces. 
 Large bricks prevented my digging further, so that I cannot describe their breeding-cells. 
 
 The bees continued to fly in the manner before described till dark, and did not 
 desert their nest. 
 
 Note, — As when in India I refrained from capturing the domesticated bees, I had 
 no specimens in my collection; but from examples since obtained I have reason to 
 believe that the species in general domestication is either Aj)is indica or A, nigrocincta. 
 Both these species are much smaller ; and the comb made in the cupboard at Maldon, 
 Nynee Tal, in 1849, was probably their work, as they prefer hollows of trees, or even 
 crevices in rocks, as opposed to A. dorsata^ which hang their combs from the under- 
 side of boughs of trees or rocks. All the notes above recorded, with this exception, 
 apply to A. dorsata, whose savage disposition would seem ill to brook captivity. 
 
 VOL. vii. — PART III. April, 1870. ^ ^ 
 
186 MESSRS. C. HOENE AND E. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 [Seventeen new species are herein described: seven belong to the Fossorial Group of 
 Hymenoptera, five belong to the Family Vespid^, and five to the Apid^ 
 
 The habits of eight species are more or less detaQed m the Notes by Mr. Home. 
 The economy of the genera Pison and Paraj>ison is for the first time made known; 
 and considerable addition is made to our previous knowledge of the habits of several 
 other genera, particularly of the species of Pemphredm. and also of the social Apidse. 
 Very little has been previously published on the habits of Indian Hymenoptera derived 
 
 from actual observation. i t, • • i 
 
 The type specimens have been liberally presented by Mr. Home to the Bntish 
 
 Museum. — F, SJ] 
 
 Fam. POMPILID^. 
 
 1. POMPILUS MACUUPES. 
 
 Female. Length Splines. Black, and thinly covered with cinereous pile; a white 
 spot on the posterior tibise near their base. 
 
 Head— the clypeus and cheeks bright and silvery in certain lights; the anterior 
 margin of the former rounded; the tips of the mandibles ferruginous. The coxbb 
 beneath and the sides of the metathorax silvery bright, the latter rounded, smooth, and 
 shining ; the wings hyaline, the nervures black, with a fuscous cloud occupying the 
 marginal cell and crossing the wing down to the posterior margin of the third discoidal 
 cell. Abdomen smooth, shining, and pilose. 
 
 Hab, Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 2. Agenia mutabiljs. 
 
 Female. Length 3^ lines. Black, and covered with a fine changeable silky silvery pile. 
 
 Head covered with silvery pile, which is most dense and bright on the cheeks and 
 clypeus, the anterior margin of the latter rounded ; the palpi testaceous, the apical joints 
 palest. Thorax silvery, most bright and dense on the coxse ; metathorax rounded pos- 
 teriorly, with a deep fossulet in the middle of its base, down the centre runs a marked 
 or defined channel ; the wings hyaline, the nervures black ; the posterior femora bright 
 ferruginous. Abdomen covered with a beautiful changeable silvery pile, its brilliancy 
 changing in every fresh position, the apical segment very smooth and shining. 
 
 Hab. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 187 
 
 Fam, SPHEGID^. 
 
 1. Ammophila fuscipennis. 
 
 Male, Length 9^ lines. Black, with red legs. 
 
 Head with scattered black pubescence, punctured, but not closely so; a Httle silvery 
 pubescence on each side of the clypeus and above it as high as the insertion of the 
 antennae; the clypeus emarginate, the angles of the emargination prominent; the scape 
 of the antennae ferruginous. Thorax coarsely rugulose; the metathorax obliquely 
 striated; wings fusco-hyaline, with a violet iridescence; the legs red, with the coxee 
 and claw-joint of the tarsi black. Abdomen black, the basal portion of the petiole 
 more or less ferruginous; the rest of the abdomen with a fine silky pile, observable in 
 certain lights. 
 
 Hah. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 2. Pelopceus curvatus. 
 
 Female. Length 6 to 7 lines. Black, variegated with yellow and ferruginous, the 
 petiole black and curving upwards. 
 
 Head — a spot on the clypeus and the scape of the antennse in front reddish yellow ; 
 the mandibles ferruginous near their apex. Thorax — a narrow line on the coUar, the 
 tegulae, a transverse spot on the scutellum pointed at each end, and a spot at the 
 insertion of the petiole on the metathorax yellow; the legs ferruginous, with the 
 C0X8B, trochanters, a line inside and outside of the femora, as well as the tips of the 
 joints of the tarsi, black. The apical margin of the first segment of the abdomen 
 with a broad reddish-yellow band; a narrow band of the same colour on the apical 
 margins of the other segments; the abdomen curving downwards. The thorax trans- 
 versely rugose, the metathorax most coarsely so ; the wings hyaline, with the nervures 
 bright ferruginous. 
 
 Hob. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 The form of the abdomen of this insect is the same as that of Pelopceus deformis 
 from North China, 
 
 ^ Fam. LARRID^, 
 
 Genus Parapison. 
 
 The characters of this genus are in all respects the same as those of the genus Pison^ 
 excepting the absence of the petiolated second submarginal cell ; it can therefore only 
 be regarded as a division of that genus. Shuckard, in his Monograph on these insects, 
 proposed a divisional name (Pisonitus). The following are the characters of the genus 
 and its divisions : — 
 
 Gen. Pison. The eyes reniform ; the anterior wings with three submarginal cells, the 
 
 2d2 
 
188 MESSES. C. HORNE AND F. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 second petiolated; the recurrent nervures either interstitial or both received by the 
 second submarginal cell. 
 
 Gen. Pisonitus. The anterior wings with three submarginal cells, the second petio- 
 lated ; the first recurrent nervure received towards the apex of the first submarginal 
 cell, the second recurrent received about the middle of the second submarginal cell. 
 
 Gen. Parapison. The anterior wings with two submarginal cells, the first recurrent- 
 nervure received towards the apex of the first submarginal cell, the second recurrent 
 nervure uniting with the apical nervure of the first submarginal cell, usually known as 
 the first transverso-median nervure. 
 
 In all these divisions the eyes are reniform, as in Vespa ; and in all, the apical margins 
 of the abdominal segments are more or less depressed. 
 
 1. Parapisojs' rufipes. (Plate XXI. fig. 1 a,) 
 
 Female. Length 3 lines. Black, with the legs red. 
 
 Head — the cheeks, clypeus, and emargination of the eyes with bright silvery pile ; 
 the mandibles ferruginous, the palpi pale ferruginous. Thorax — the posterior margin 
 of the prothorax and the sides of the metathorax with silvery pubescent pile ; the meso- 
 thorax with a deep central longitudinal channel and a short impressed line between it 
 and the tegulae ; the metathorax has also a deep longitudinal channel, which is broadest 
 and deepest at its origin at the postscutellum ; the wings hyaline and iridescent ; the 
 legs ferruginous, with their coxse black, the apical joints of the tarsi dusky. Abdomen 
 smooth, shining, and delicately punctured; the apical margins of the segments with 
 changeable bright silvery pubescence ; the sides of the abdomen very bright and glitter- 
 ing ; beneath smooth and shining. 
 
 Hab. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 Fam. CRABRONID^. 
 
 1. Trypoxylon intruders. 
 
 Female. Length 4-4J lines. Black, with the second and third segments of the 
 abdomen red, legs more or less testaceous. 
 
 Head shining and delicately punctured, with an impressed line in front of the anterior 
 ocellus ; the clypeus and the emargination of the eyes with bright silvery pubescence ; 
 tips of the mandibles ferruginous, the palpi pale testaceous ; the extreme apex of the 
 joints of the antennae more or less rufo-testaceous. Thorax smooth and shining, with a 
 few very fine punctures; the collar and sides of the metathorax silvery, the latter with 
 a deep central longitudinal impression ; a semicircular enclosed space at the base of 
 the metathorax, which is tramversely striated ; the legs black, with the tips of the 
 coxae, the trochanters, the base of the tibiae, and the tips of the joints of the tarsi 
 pale testaceous ; the wings colourless and brilliantly iridescent. The petiole more than 
 
TEOM THE NORTH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 189 
 
 half the length of the abdomen ; the second and third segments red, with a fuscous 
 spot in the middle of each. 
 
 Hah, Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This insect was bred from cocoons constructed by Parapison rufipes, it having taken 
 possession of one of the cells and reared its own young therein. 
 
 2. Trtpoxtlon rejector. (Plate XXL fig. 4 a.) 
 
 Female, Length 5^ lines. Black, with the second and third segments of the abdomen 
 red, the legs black. 
 
 Head — the clypeus and the emargination of the eyes silvery ; tips of the mandibles 
 ferruginous, the palpi pale testaceous ; an impressed line in front of the anterior ocellus, 
 terminating at an elevated carina just above the insertion of the antennae. Thorax 
 smooth and shining on the disk ; the sides of the metathorax with silvery pubescence, 
 and a smooth enclosed space at its base divided by a central chaimel, beyond the 
 enclosure it widens into a deep and wide fossulet; wings subhyaline, their apical 
 margins clouded and beautifully iridescent ; legs entirely black. Abdomen with a long 
 petiole, and smooth and shining ; the second and third segments red, their apical margins 
 more or less fuscous. 
 
 Hob. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This species was bred from cells constructed by Pterochilus pulchellus, 
 
 Fam. EUMENID^. 
 
 1. EuMENES MAiNPURiENSis. (Plate XX. fig. 3 a.) 
 
 Male, Length 5 lines. Black, with yellow bands and spots, and thinly covered with 
 short pale pubescence. 
 
 Head and thorax very closely punctured; the clypeus and a narrow line running 
 upwards and terminating in a round spot yellow; the apical joint or hook of the 
 antennae reddish yellow; the tips of the mandibles ferruginous. Thorax — the anterior 
 margin of the prothorax yellow above ; the tegulse and postscutellum yellow ; the tibise, 
 tarsi, and apex of the femora yellow; the posterior tarsi, and apex of the tibise above, 
 fuscous ; the wings subhyaline, the anterior margin of the anterior pair more or less 
 fuscous. Abdomen with all the segments ii-regularly bordered with yellow; petiole 
 pyriform, the yellow border deeply emarginate in the middle, and on each side of it a 
 deep impression ; the second segment with a small transverse oblong yellow spot on each 
 side, and the yellow border deeply emarginate in the middle and narrowed laterally ; 
 the borders of the other segments narrower ; the abdomen is slightly shining, finely and 
 closely punctured, but not so closely as the head and thorax. 
 
 Hab, Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This may possibly be the male of the species described by Saussure in his ' Mono- 
 
190 MESSES. C. HOENE AND P. SMITH ON HTMENOPTERA. 
 
 graphie des Guepes solitaires,' and named Eumenes affinissima from its close resemblance 
 to the European species E. coarctata and E. pomiformis] but I have nothing to justify 
 my considering it to be so. 
 
 2. Pterochilus pulchellus. (Plate XXI. fig. 8 i.) 
 
 Female. Length 3 lines. Black, ornamented with yellowish-white markings; the 
 basal segment of the abdomen red. 
 
 Head — a line behind the eyes, the sides of the clypeus, an oblong spot above it, the 
 base of the mandibles and the scape in front yellow white. A transverse line on the 
 thorax in front, the tegulse, a spot beneath the wings, and the sides of the scutellum 
 and postscutellum yellowish white ; the wings hyaline and iridescent ; the femora and 
 the tibise within pale ferruginous, the coxse white in front, the tibiae and tarsi white and 
 more or less stained with pale ferruginous. Abdomen — the first segment red, small, 
 and campanulate, much narrower than the second; the posterior margins of all the 
 segments white, and a small ovate spot on each side of the second segment; beneath, 
 the second segment with a white apical margin. 
 
 Male. Rather smaller than the female, and closely resembling that sex, but having 
 the clypeus immaculate (the female has a black spot), and the second abdominal segment 
 without the two ovate white spots. 
 
 Hab. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 Fam. VESPIDiE. 
 1. Vespa vivax. (Plate XXI. fig. 9, $ .) 
 
 Worker. Length 9 lines. Black, pubescent, head yellow, the abdomen with orange 
 bands, the legs and antennse ferruginous. 
 
 Head sulphur-coloured ; the face above the clypeus as high as the posterior ocelli 
 black ; the emargination of the eyes obscurely yellow ; a reversed bell-shaped yellow 
 spot between the antennse. 
 
 Thorax black, with sometimes a very narrow orange line on each side of its anterior 
 margin; wings fulvo-hyaline, with the anterior margin of the superior pair fusco- 
 ferruginous ; tegulse rufo-piceous ; the tibise and tarsi reddish yellow. 
 
 Abdomen with the first segment bordered with a broad orange band occupying half 
 its width ; the second segment with a very narrow orange band on its apical margin ; 
 the third segment yellow, with a quadrate spot on each side at its basal margin ; these 
 spots unite with the black basal portion of the segment, which is sometimes partlv visible 
 also ; the apical margin of the fourth segment, and the fifth and sixth entirely, orange- 
 yellow; the abdomen yellow beneath from the middle of the second segment to the 
 apex. 
 
 Hah, Binsur, Kumaon, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
FROM THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES OF INDIA. 191 
 
 This species most closely resembles V. velutina, and must be arranged next to that 
 species. 
 
 2. Vespa flaviceps. (Plate XXI. figs. 10, ? , 11, S? .) 
 
 Female. Length 8 lines. Black, and ornamented with sulphur-yellow spots and bands. 
 
 Head yellow, with a small quadrate black spot that encloses the ocelli ; the flagellum 
 of the antennae and the teeth of the mandibles black, the scape, and the vertex between 
 the summit of the eyes, ferruginous ; the eyes extending to the base of the mandibles. 
 Thorax — the margins of the prothorax and of the scutellum, a spot on each side of the 
 metathorax just above the insertion of the abdomen, and a spot beneath the wings 
 yellow; this legs yellow and stained with ferruginous beneath; the coxse, and the 
 posterior femora at their base, more or less fuscous ; the wings flavo-hyaline, the 
 nervures ferruginous, the costal nervure fuscous. Abdomen — the first, second, and 
 third segments with a yellow band on their apical margins ; the bands on the second 
 and third segments widen at the sides, where each is slightly emarginate ; the two fol- 
 lowing segments are yellow, and have an ovate black spot on each side ; the apical 
 segment yellow beneath ; the basal margins of the first, second, and third segments are 
 black. 
 
 Worker. Length 6 lines. This sex differs from the female in many particulars. The 
 vertex is black ; the antennae black, with the scape yellow in front. The thorax, legs, 
 and wings as in the female. The abdomen has the apical margins of all the segments 
 bordered with narrow yellow bands ; the second and following segments have a rounded 
 notch on each side. Beneath, the segments with yellow apical margins : that on the 
 second segment is broad, and a curved black line runs into it, emanating from the black 
 base of the segment ; the margins of the three foUowing segments have narrower bands, 
 each having a black emargination on each side ; very frequently there is a very narrow 
 interrupted line of yeUow at the base of the abdomen. 
 Hab. Binsur, Kumaon, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This species has the aspect of one of our British, or one of the North-American 
 Wasps ; at first sight the workers look somewhat like those of Vespa cuneata. 
 
 3. Vespa structor. (Plate XXL fig. 12, $.) 
 
 Worker. Length 5 lines. Head and thorax black; abdomen reddish yellow, with 
 
 black bands. 
 
 Head yellow, the vertex between the eyes black; the scape yellow in front; the eyes 
 extending to the base of the mandibles. The margins of the prothorax, a line on each 
 side at the base of the scutellum, the tibiae, tarsi, and tips of the femora reddish 
 yeUow; the cox®, trochanters, and base of the femora black; wings subhyaline, the 
 nervures ferruginous, the costal nervure black. Abdomen reddish yellow, with the 
 basal margins of the segments black ; the black bands narrow, but widest in the middle, 
 
192 MESSES. C. HOENE AND E. SMITH ON HYMENOPTEEA 
 
 and there produced into an angular point, and the posterior margins of the bands 
 irregularly notched. 
 
 Hah. Binsur, Kumaon, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 Fam. APIDiE. 
 
 1. Megachile pkoxima. 
 
 Female. Length 6-7 lines. Head, thorax, and base of the abdomen with fulvous 
 pubescence, the segments margined with white. 
 
 Head — the face clothed with fulvous pubescence ; the thorax also with fulvous or 
 fulvo-ferruginous pubescence above; the tegulse ferruginous; the wings subhyaline, 
 with a dark fuscous cloud beyond the marginal cell ; the intermediate and posterior 
 tibise with a fine silvery pilosity outside, and the basal joint of their tarsi with bright 
 short ferruginous pubescence beneath. The basal segment of the abdomen with bright 
 ferruginous pubescence ; the posterior margin of the second with a narrow fringe of the 
 same colour; the border on the third segment is reddish in the middle and white at the 
 sides ; the two following are edged with white ; the apical segment is white on each side ; 
 the underside is clothed with silvery- white hair, with a fringe of black at the sides. 
 
 Male. This sex is coloured like the female, but has more of the red pubescence at 
 the base of the abdomen, its anterior tarsi are simple, and the apical segment of the 
 abdomen has no white at the sides, and its margin is notched in the middle. 
 
 This species very closely resembles the M. lanata of Fabricius, and is difficult to 
 separate by description : the white pubescence on each side of the apical segment of the 
 abdomen distinguishes the female ; the males are alike ; but both sexes of M. proxima 
 are larger than those of M. lanata. The habits of the two species are totally different, 
 as pointed out by Mr. Home. 
 
 Hab, Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 2. C(ELI0XYS ANGULATA. 
 
 Female. Length 5| lines. Jet black, the abdomen with a row of lateral snow-white 
 angulated spots. 
 
 Head and thorax strongly and closely punctured ; the face on each side of the clypeus 
 and the anterior margin of the latter with dense short white pubescence, which also 
 covers the head behind the eyes; a white line of pubescence on each side of the meso- 
 thorax close to the margins of the tegulse, two minute spots of the same colour at the 
 base of the scutellum ; the thorax beneath, as well as the femora, with fine short white 
 pubescence ; the posterior tibise are also clothed outside j a stout tooth on each side of 
 the scutellum ; the posterior margin of the latter rounded. Abdomen shining, finely 
 and sparingly punctured ; a row of minute snow-white scales along the basal margin 
 of the second and following segments, at the lateral margins an angular patch of the 
 
FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OF INDIA. 193 
 
 same ; the patch is quadrate on the basal segment ; the apical segment broadly lanceo- 
 late, the lower plate of the same shape, and only a little longer than the upper one ; 
 beneath, the segments are margined with white, and usually more or less interrupted 
 in the middle ; the basal segment has a white patch in the middle. 
 
 Hah, Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This species is parasitic upon MegacUle fasciculata, from the cells of which bee 
 Mr, Home bred it. In my catalogue of Andrenidse and Apidse I have described the 
 female of M. fasciculata as a distinct species under the name M. unthracina ; Mr. Home 
 bred both sexes from nests. 
 
 3. BoMBUS ATROciNCTus. (Plate XXL fig. 13, d.) 
 
 Male. Length 7 lines. 
 
 Head — the cheeks with griseous pubescence, the clypeus with white, on each side of 
 it the pubescence is thin, long, and black, as it is also at the insertion of the antennae, 
 leaving the vertex naked, smooth and shining ; there are also a few long black hairs on 
 the posterior margin of the vertex. Thorax clothed above with fulvous pubescence, 
 as are also the two basal segments of the abdomen ; the wings fulvo-hyaline, with their 
 apical margins fuscous ; the third and fourth segments of the abdomen clothed with 
 black pubescence, the three apical ones with white; the four apical joints of the tarsi 
 ferruginous ; the tarsi, beneath, have short bright ferruginous pubescence ; the thorax 
 and abdomen, beneath, with a long thin griseous pubescence, 
 
 Hab, Binsur, Kumaon, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 This species resembles one of the varieties of the Bombus lucorum of Europe. 
 
 4. Bombus terminalis. 
 
 Male. Length 7 lines. 
 
 The head clothed with black pubescence, that on the clypeus white and intermixed 
 with some long bristly black hairs ; the mandibles with a thick fringe of pale fulvous. 
 Thorax clothed above with bright fulvous pubescence ; that on the sides black ; beneath 
 it is white; the four apical joints of the tarsi ferruginous; the pubescence on the tibiae 
 black, intermixed with a few ferruginous hairs on the posterior pair ; that on the tarsi 
 beneath is bright ferruginous; wings fulvo-hyaline, the nervures dark ferruginous. 
 Abdomen clothed with black pubescence ; a few ferruginous hairs at its base, and the 
 two apical segments clothed with white ; beneath, the segments are fringed with pale 
 
 hairs. 
 
 Worker. Length 5| lines. Clothed exactly the same as the male, and only differs in 
 having the wings darker, and in not having white pubescence on the clypeus ; above it, at 
 the insertion of the antennae, it is short, dense, and fusco-ferruginous, 
 
 Hab. The male from Simla. 
 VOL. vir. — PART III. April, 1870. ^ ^ 
 
194 MESSRS. C. HOENE AND F. SMITH ON HTMENOPTEEA 
 
 5. Trigona RUFICORNIS. 
 
 Worker. Length 1^ line. 
 
 The head smooth and shining, the face with a white downy pubescence ; the antennae 
 and mandibles ferruginous, the clypeus usually more or less so. The thorax smooth, 
 shining, black ; the scutellum and metathorax frequently more or less pale ferruginous ; 
 wings colourless and iridescent ; legs pale ferruginous, varying in colour to dark fusco- 
 ferruginous. Abdomen ferruginous, frequently dark towards the apex, and very smooth 
 and shining. 
 
 Hab. Mainpuri, North-west Provinces of India. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
 
 PLATE XIX. 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest of Megachile fasciculata, p. 178. 
 
 Fig. 2. Male of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 3. Female of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 4. Leaf cells of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 5. Open cell, with pollen, and grub feeding thereon. 
 
 Fig. 6. The skin of the larva of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 7. Leaves of a rose cut by Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 8. The pupa-case of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 9. Jjorvsi of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 10. The egg of Megachile fascieulata. 
 
 Fig. 11. Nest of Megachile lanata (p. 176) in a piece of bamboo. 
 
 Fig. 11 a. Female of Megachile lanata. 
 
 Fig. \\h. Male of Megachile lanata. 
 
 Fig. 12. Nest of Megachile di^uncta, p. 179. 
 
 Fig. 12 a. Female of Megachile disjuncta. 
 
 PLATE XX. 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest of Rhynchium nitidulum, p. 168. 
 Fig. 1 a. The female of Rhynchium nitidulum. 
 
Pages 195-196 are bound in between plates 21-22, 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
 
 PLATE XIX. 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest oi MegacJiile fasciculata^ p. 178. 
 
 Fig. 2. Male bi MegacMle fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 3. Female oi Megachile fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 4. Leaf cells oi MegacMle fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 5. Open cell, with pollen, and grub feeding thereon. 
 
 Fig. 6. The skin of the larva oi Megachile fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 7. Leaves of a rose cut by Megachile fa^ciculata. 
 
 Fig. 8. The pupa-case o£ Megachile fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 9. IjBxva o{ Megachile fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 10, The egg of Megachile fasciculata. 
 
 Fig. 11. Nest ot Megachile lanata (p. 176) in a piece of bamboo. 
 
 Fig. 11a. Female of Megachile lanata. 
 
 Fig. 11 S. Male of Megachile lanata. 
 
 Fig. 12. Nest oi Megachile disjuncta, p. 179. 
 
 Fig. 12 «. Female oi Megachile disjuncta. 
 
 PLATE XX. 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest oi Bhynchium nitidulum, p. 168. 
 Fig. 1 a. The female of Ehynchium nitidulum. 
 
C.Home,iel,E 3mL-ftLlrth_ 
 
 Indian Hymenoptera. 
 
 W"WesL linp. 
 
^^^.^<:^r^^. f^./M2(?: 
 
 C.HomEdfil. E Smith. litti. 
 
 Indian Hymen opt era. 
 
 W Tfest 
 
 lYnp 
 
2.b 
 
 c^^/^tj. Ju^.rjy^. 'i^^Z^y^.2/ 
 
 CHome ^el E . Suni}i Jitii 
 
 Indian Ilymenoptera. 
 
 ^'^'^ 
 
FROM THE N0ETH-WE8T PROVINCES OF INDIA. 195 
 
 Fig. 2. Nest of Eumems conica (abnormal form), p. 166. 
 
 Fig. 2 a. Female of Eumenes conica. 
 
 Fig. 3. Nest of Eumenes mainpuriemis^ p. 167. 
 
 Fig. %a. Female oi Eumenes mainpuriensis^ p. 189. 
 
 Fig. 4. Nest oi Eumenes edwardsii, p. 167. 
 
 Fig. 4 a. Female of Eumenes edwardsii. 
 
 Fig. 5. Nest of Bhynchium carnaticum^ p. 167. 
 
 Fig. 5 a. Female of Bhynchium camaticum. 
 
 Fig. 6. Nest oi Eumenes esurienSj p. 167. 
 
 Fig. 6 a. Female of Eumenes esuriens. 
 
 Fig, 7. Nest of Odynerus ptmctum^ p. 167. 
 
 Fig. 7 a. Female of Odynerus punctum. 
 
 Fig. 8. Nest oi Icaria variegata, p. 169. 
 
 Fig. 8 a. Female of Icaria variegata. 
 
 Fig. 9. Nest of Icaria variegata on a leaf. 
 
 PLATE XXI. 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest of Parapison rufipes^ p. 165. 
 
 Fig. 1 a, Parapison rufipes ( ? ), p. 188. 
 
 Fig. 1 5. Pupa-cases of Parapison rufipes. 
 
 Fig. 2. Nest oi Pelopceus bengalensis^ p. 163. 
 
 Fig. 2 a. Pupa-cases of Pelopceus bengalensis. 
 
 Fig. 3. Cell of a species oi Pelopceus {X) constructed in a finger-ring. 
 
 Fig. 4. Nest of Trypoxylon rejector^ p. 164. 
 
 Fig, 4 a. Trypoxylon rejector^ p. 189. 
 
 Fig. 5. Nest oi Pisonitus rugosus^ p. 165. 
 
 Fig. 5 a. Female of Pisonitus rugosus. 
 
 Fig. 6. Nest oi Pelopceus madraspatanus^ p. 161. 
 
 Fig. 7. Female of Pelopceus madraspatanus. 
 
 Figs. 8 & 8a. Cells oi Pterochilus pulchellus. 
 
 Fig. 8 5. Pterochilus pulchellus (?), p. 190. 
 
 Fig. 9. Vespa vivax ( 5), p. 190. 
 
 Fig. 10. Vespa flaviceps (?), pp. 174, 191. 
 
 Fig. 11. Vespa flaviceps {^). 
 
 Fig. 12. Ve^a structor ( ? ), p. 191. 
 
 Fig. 13, Bombus atrocinctus (cT), p 193. 
 
 Fig, 14. Nest oi Pelopceus hilineatus^ p. 163. 
 
 Fig. 14 a. Pelopceus biUneatus ( S ). 
 
196 ON HTMENOPTEEA FEOM THE NOETH-WEST PEOVINCES OP INDIA. 
 
 PLATE XXII, 
 
 Fig. 1. Nest oi Xylocopa chloroptera, p. 179. 
 Fig* 1 a. Female of Xylocopa chloroptera. 
 Fig, 1 h. Larva of Xylocopa chloroptera. 
 
 Fig. 1 (7. Emanadia^ sp. %^ p. 167. 
 
 Fig. 2, Comb oi Apis floralis^ p. 181. 
 
 Fig. 2 a. The queen of Apisfloralis, 
 
 Fig. 2 b. The worker oi Apis fioralis. 
 
 Fig, 2 G. The male of Apisfloralis. 
 
 Fig. 3. Comb oi Apis dorsata^ p. 181. 
 
 Fig. 3 a. The worker of Apis dorsata. 
 
 Fig. 3 J. A closed cell of Apis dorsata. 
 
 Fig. 3 c. Galleria mellolella^ a moth which feeds upon the comb. 
 
C Homedel,E Smifli litli. 
 
 In dian Hyiiiej'i op tera. 
 
 "W","Westimi).