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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants, by Edward Saunders
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants
and Other Stinging Insects
Author: Edward Saunders
Illustrator: Constance A. Saunders
Release Date: October 18, 2010 [EBook #33874]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD BEES, WASPS AND ANTS ***
Produced by Chris Curnow, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
WILD BEES, WASPS AND ANTS
[Illustration: PLATE A.
1. _Formica sanguinea, male._ 2. _Formica sanguinea, female._ 3. _Formica
sanguinea, worker._ 4. _Mutilla europæa, male._ 5. _Mutilla Europæa,
female._ 6. _Cerceris arenaria, female._ 7. _Ammophila sabulosa, female._
8. _Crabro cribrarius, male._ 9. _Odynerus spinipes, male._
[_front._
WILD BEES, WASPS
AND ANTS
And Other Stinging Insects
By
EDWARD SAUNDERS
F.R.S., F.L.S., etc
With numerous Illustrations in the text, and
Four Coloured Plates by
CONSTANCE A. SAUNDERS
[Illustration]
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
* * * * *
{v}
PREFACE
The object of this little book is to give in as simple a form as possible a
short account of some of the British Wild Bees, Wasps, Ants, etc.,
scientifically known as the _Hymenoptera Aculeata_. Of these the
non-scientific public rarely recognizes more than the Hive Bee, the Humble
Bee, the Wasp, and the Hornet, whereas there are about 400 different kinds
to be found in this country, and they can be recognized by any one who is
disposed to make a special study of the group.
The author has not hesitated to make free use of the experiences of others
in regard to the habits of the insects he describes, and he has not thought
it necessary in each case to make separate acknowledgment of this. He takes
this opportunity of thanking Mr. H. Donisthorpe and Mr. F. W. L. Sladen for
assistance in the chapters on Ants and their Lodgers, and Humble Bees,
respectively. {vi}
These pages are written only for the non-scientific, as the scientific
entomologist will be already familiar with the elementary facts recorded;
but it is hoped that they may be of interest to lovers of Nature who wish
to know a little about the insects they see round them and how they spend
their lives. Of this knowledge very little exists, as the scraps which have
been here brought together evidence. There is an immense field open for
research and observation, and the writer of this little book will be very
glad if the following pages should encourage any one to take up the subject
and add to our present scanty stock of information.
EDWARD SAUNDERS.
ST. ANN'S, WOKING.
* * * * *
{vii}
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL, 1
THE SOLITARY GROUPS, 6
THE SOLITARY BEES, 9
THE CUCKOO BEES, 14
THE FOSSORS, OR DIGGERS, 18
THE SOLITARY WASPS, 24
THE SOCIAL GROUPS, 28
THE ANTS, 31
THE SOCIAL WASPS, 35
THE HUMBLE BEES, 39
THE BEES WITH BIFID TONGUES, 44
THE BEES WITH POINTED TONGUES, 48
LEAF-CUTTING BEES, 52
_Osmia_ AND ITS HABITS, 55
A COLONY OF _Anthophora_, 61
BEES AND POLLEN-COLLECTING, 65
ON BEES' TONGUES, AND HOW THEY SUCK HONEY, 72
A DREADFUL PARASITE, 77
{viii}
AMONGST THE BEES AT WORK, 81
ANTS, THEIR GUESTS, AND THEIR LODGERS, 88
HOW CAN AN "ACULEATE" BE RECOGNIZED?, 92
MALES AND FEMALES, 95
THE VAGARIES OF COLOUR AND STRUCTURE IN THE SEXES, 100
THE DISTRIBUTION, RARITY, OR ABUNDANCE OF VARIOUS SPECIES, 105
ON BEES' WINGS, 110
ON BREEDING ACULEATES, ETC., 113
ON COLOUR, 119
THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS FROM THE EGG, 124
ON STRUCTURE, 132
INDEX, 141
* * * * *
{ix}
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
Fig. 1. _Bombus_, larva and nymph: after Packard 11
" 2. _Ammophila_ 22
" 3-4. Spines on the tarsi of female _Ammophila_ 23
" 5. Tubular entrance to hole of wasp 25
" 6. Basal segments of ants 33
" 7. Rose-leaf partially eaten by bees 52
" 8. Tufted hairs of hind leg of _Andrena_ 67
" 9. Corbicula of humble bee 67
" 10-12. Cleaning apparatus of bees 69
" 13-18. Hairs of bees, magnified 71
" 19. Tongues of bees, magnified 73
" 20. Diagram of tongue of bee 75
" 21. _Stylops_ 77
" 22. _Stylops_ larva in abdominal cavity of bee 78
" 23. Antennæ of "Keyhole" wasps 101
" 24. Legs of male "Keyhole" wasps 101
" 25. Tibia of male _Crabro cribrarius_ 103
" 26. Antennæ of male _Crabro cribrarius_ 103
" 27. Head of male and female _Crabro clypeatus_ 103
" 28. Parts of the insect 133
* * * * *
{xi}
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLOURED PLATES
PLATE A
Figs. 1, 2, 3. _Formica sanguinea Latr._: male, female, and worker. The
host of _Lomechusa_ (p. 89), also a slave-making species; makes
irregular nests of dead leaves, etc., generally against a sloping bank.
Figs. 4, 5. _Mutilla europæa Linn._: male and female. One of the few
British species of Aculeates where the female is wingless; found in
sandy places running in the sun.
Fig. 6. _Cerceris arenaria L._: female; burrows in the sand, and
provisions its nest with beetles (p. 20).
Fig. 7. _Ammophila sabulosa L._: female; burrows in the sand,
provisions its nest with caterpillars, peculiar for its very elongated
waist (p. 22).
Fig. 8. _Crabro cribrarius L._: male; peculiar for its paddle-like
tibiæ and flattened antennæ (p. 103).
Fig. 9. _Odynerus spinipes L._: male; peculiar for the form of its
middle femora, which are cut out almost in two semicircles (p. 101);
female makes a tubular entrance to her nest (p. 25).
PLATE B
Fig. 10.--_Colletes succinctus L._: female; lines its cells with a
gluey material (p. 44); colonizes in sandy banks; host of _Epeolus
rufipes_ (fig. 19).
{xii} Fig. 11. _Sphecodes subquadratus Smith_: female; cuckoo of a
species of _Halictus_; female hibernates like its host (p. 17).
Fig. 12. _Halictus lencozonius Schr._: burrows in the ground; the host
of _Sphecodes pilifrons Thoms_ (p. 17).
Fig. 13. _Vespa crabro L._: female (the Hornet), nests in hollow trees;
host of the rare beetle _Velleius dilatatus_ (p. 38).
Fig. 14. _Vespa vulgaris L._: female: one of our commonest wasps; nests
usually in the ground (p. 35); host of a peculiar beetle (_Metoecus
paradoxus_) (p. 38)
Figs. 15, 16. _Andrena fulva Schr._: male and female; the bee which
burrows in lawns, etc. (p. 9); host of _Nomada ruficornis var. signata_
(p. 15).
Fig. 17. _Panurgus ursinus Gmel._: Female; legs loaded with pollen,
burrows in hard sandy paths, etc. (p. 49). Males sleep curled up
amongst the rays of yellow composite flowers.
Fig. 18. _Nomada ruficornis L. var. signata_: cuckoo of _Andrena fulva_
(figs. 15 and 16).
Fig. 19. _Epeolus rufipes Thoms_: female; cuckoo of _Colletes
succinctus_ (fig. 10).
PLATE C
Fig. 20.--_Megachile maritima Kirby_: female; burrows in the ground,
makes its cells of pieces of leaves, which it cuts out with its
mandibles; host of _Coelioxys conoidea_.
Figs. 21, 22. _Coelioxys conoidea Illig_: male and female; cuckoo of
_Megachile maritima_.
Fig. 23. Burrows of _Megachile Willughbiella Kirby_, in a piece of
rotten willow; each burrow originally contained six cells, but two of
the left-hand series have been lost.
{xiii}
PLATE D
Figs. 24 and 25. _Anthophora pilipes F._: male and female. A spring
bee, the male of which may often be seen in gardens, darting from
flower to flower (p. 81); while the female collects pollen; it forms
large colonies (p. 62).
Fig. 26. _Melecta armata Pz._: cuckoo of _Anthophora pilipes_.
Fig. 27. _Anthidium manicatum L._: invests its cells with the down off
the stems of labiate plants, which it strips off with its mandibles (p.
50).
Fig. 28. _Osmia bicolor Schr._: female; nests in snail-shells, which it
sometimes covers up with small pieces of grass-stems till a little
mound is formed, resembling a diminutive ants' nest (p. 59).
Fig. 29. _Bombus terrestris L._: female. One of the commonest of our
Humble Bees; it nests in the ground. It is the host of _Psithyrus
vestalis_, which resembles it very closely in colour; it is this
species that was exhibited by Mr. Sladen at the Maidstone Agricultural
Hall (p. 41).
Fig. 30. _Bombus lapidarius L._: another common Humble Bee, also an
underground builder; it is the host of _Psithyrus rupestris_.
Fig. 31. _Psithyrus rupestris F._: female; the cuckoo of _Bombus
lapidarius_, which it closely resembles except for the nearly black
colour of the wings.
* * * * *
{1}
THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL
I think I ought here to say why I propose to limit myself to an account of
a certain portion only of the Hymenoptera. The reason for this, in the
first place, is that the section which I have selected is the only one of
which I have any special knowledge; it consists of the bees, wasps, ants
and sandwasps, four groups which make up the stinging section of the
order--or perhaps more accurately, which have poison bags connected with
their egg-laying apparatus or _ovipositor_. Another reason for their
selection lies in their nesting habits; these enable one to get a further
insight into their economy and ways than can be obtained from those of
almost any other group or order--at any rate they make them comparatively
easy to study; one can, so to say, find these little creatures at home,
whereas in most orders there seems to be no definite home to which the {2}
individuals may be traced; a great advantage also in selecting the stinging
groups for study is that they are creatures of the spring and summer, and
of the sunshine, so that the weather which tempts them out to their duties
is of the kind most agreeable to those who wish to investigate their
habits.
The habits of the hive bee have not been touched on, as so many excellent
treatises have been written on them that any observations here would be
superfluous.
Although these groups are distinguished by their stinging habits, it is
only the female that possesses a sting--the male is a most harmless
creature and quite incapable of injuring any one. A male wasp or even a
male hornet may be handled with absolute impunity, only it is wise to be
certain as to the sex of the individual before presuming to play with it
too much! A word here may perhaps be said about stinging. People often talk
about a gnat stinging or a stinging fly; it may be difficult to define
exactly what "to sting" means, but the writer has always considered that a
sting is inflicted by the tail end of the creature or a {3} bite by the
mouth. A fly or gnat no doubt inserts its proboscis into one's flesh just
as a wasp does its sting; but the actions of such opposite parts of the
body surely demand distinct names. As we have been alluding to flies it may
not be inappropriate to say here that all the creatures we are going to
consider have four membranous wings except the worker ants and a very few
forms which are comparatively seldom met with. By this character they may
at once be known from flies, which have only two membranous wings. The
large brown "drone flies", so often seen on the windows of our rooms,
especially in autumn, and which most people mistake for hive bees, to which
they certainly bear a considerable general resemblance, may be detected at
once by wanting the two hind wings of the bee.
The "aculeate", or stinging, Hymenoptera, are divided into sections and
families according to their structure; but the groups which stand out most
clearly in regard to their habits are the solitary and social species, the
predaceous and non-predaceous and the inquilines or cuckoos. {4}
The vast majority of the aculeate Hymenoptera are what are called
"solitary", i.e. one male and one female alone are interested in the
production of the nest; but there are also three "social" groups--the ants,
the true wasps, and the humble and hive bees.
These are called social because they form communities and all work together
towards the maintenance of the nest. In the social species there are two
forms of the females--the queens and the workers; these latter have the
ovaries imperfectly developed, and in the humble bees and wasps they only
differ outwardly from the fully developed females or queens by being
smaller. In the ants, however, the workers are wingless, and of a very
different form from that of the queen. The rôle of these workers seems to
be to do the general work of the nest; they have been known to lay fertile
eggs, but the resulting offspring has always been male.
Between these conditions of solitary and social we know of no actually
intermediate stages. We do not seem to see any attempts on the part of
solitary bees to become social or vice versâ. The only condition known
which {5} could possibly be considered as intermediate is shown in certain
species where a number of individuals make their nests close to each other
in some particular bank, forming a colony. These colonies are sometimes
very extensive, and the burrows of the individual bees very close together;
it has also been shown that the burrows sometimes unite--at the same time
there seems to be no positive evidence that there is any work done in the
colony which could be considered as done for the common good.
* * * * *
{6}
THE SOLITARY GROUPS
All the solitary kinds appear to feed themselves on vegetable juices,
honey, etc., but there is a well-marked division between those who
provision the cells of their offspring with insects, either fully developed
or in the larval stages, and those who provision them with the pollen of
flowers, honey, etc. The theory is that originally all fed their cells with
insects, but that by degrees the more progressive found that the food which
suited themselves would equally nourish their offspring, and accordingly
provided them with vegetable nourishment. We find no intermediate stages. A
certain class still goes on feeding on the old principle. The members of
this class are known as "_fossors_" or diggers, while those which feed on
the new principle are called "_Anthophila_" or flower-lovers. These are not
very happy names, as many of the _Anthophila_ dig out holes for their nests
just {7} in the same way as the _fossors_ do, and many of the _fossors_ are
found in flowers, apparently enjoying them just as much as a truly
anthophilous species would, although no doubt often with the ulterior
object of capturing some insect for their young! Still these names are
known as representing these two sections all over the world, and therefore
it is better to keep to them even if they are not as descriptive as one
would like them to be.
The _fossors_, or "diggers", have all comparatively short and bifid
tongues, and have, as a rule, little in the way of hairy covering, and what
hairs they have are simple and only in very rare instances branched or
feather-like. The hind legs of the females are not modified in any way so
as to enable them to collect pollen, their legs are usually long and
slender, and they are admirably adapted to their life habits of hunting
spiders, insects, etc., for their young.
On the other hand, the _Anthophila_ or "flower-lovers", are specially
adapted for pollen collecting. Their tongues vary from a short form like
that of some _fossors_ to the long tongues of the humble bees. Their hairs
are always plumose {8} or branched on some part of the body and the hind
legs of the females in most species are provided on the tibia or shin with
a special brush on which pollen may be collected. In some of the
long-tongued bees, however, this brush occurs on the underside of the body
instead of on the tibia. The pollen-collecting arrangements of the
different genera of the _Anthophila_ and the corresponding organs for
cleaning off the pollen again are amongst the most interesting instances of
modification and adaptation: some of the more striking of these will be
mentioned later on. (See pp. 65 _sqq._)
* * * * *
{9}
THE SOLITARY BEES
The life-history of an ordinary pair of solitary bees is, roughly, as
follows: I will take for an example one of the spring species of _Andrena_.
Many people know the little red bee, which for some apparently
unaccountable reason suddenly appears in myriads on their lawn or gravel
path, throwing up little mounds of finely powdered earth--in this respect
being quite different from worm casts, which are formed of wet mould and
the particles of which cling together--sometimes causing considerable alarm
as to the possible effect on the lawn. These have hatched out from burrows
made by their parents in the previous year, the mouths of which have been
filled up with earth and therefore are quite invisible till the newly
fledged bees gnaw their way out. They, in their turn, are now making fresh
burrows for their own broods; possibly they infested some one else's lawn
the year before or were only in comparatively small {10} numbers on the
lawn under notice and so passed unrecognized. They may safely be left
alone, as they never seem to breed many consecutive years in one such
locality: probably the treatment of a lawn does not suit them, mowing and
rolling upsetting their arrangements. We will now consider these
arrangements. The female bee, so soon as she realizes that she is charged
with the duty of providing for her future offspring, makes a burrow in the
ground, and the earth thrown up from the tunnel forms the little heap which
is so observable; this burrow varies in depth from 6 to 12 inches and has
short lateral branches; each of these she shapes, more or less, into the
form of a cell, provisions it with a small mass of pollen mixed with honey
for the maintenance of the larva when hatched, and lays her egg; she then
seals up that cell and proceeds to the next, and in this way fills the
burrow up until pretty near the surface. The bee caterpillar when hatched
is a white grub-like creature which, after devouring the food provided for
it, becomes more or less torpid; it then makes its final change of skin,
after how long a period is probably uncertain, and appears in the nymph
stage. {11} [Illustration: FIG. 1. Bombus, larva and nymph: after Packard.]
This stage corresponds to the chrysalis of a moth or butterfly, the
creature being shortened up and rather more like the perfect insect
compacted into the smallest form possible. People are often misled into the
idea that the caterpillar forms the chrysalis over its former self, whereas
the chrysalis has been all the time forming inside the caterpillar and only
shows itself when the final skin is shed; of course some caterpillars spin
a cocoon over themselves before they change their skin, but then the true
chrysalis is found inside the cocoon. A curious fact connected with the
change from the nymph to the perfect insect is that this takes place
sometimes as early as August in the year preceding their appearance; so
that cells dug up in August may contain fully fledged insects which are not
due to appear till April or May of the following year. It is wonderful also
how long life can be {12} sustained by these creatures in the "full-fed
larva" condition. Some years ago I collected a number of pierced bramble
stems in order to breed out some of the small "sandwasps" which nest in
them. On opening them in May, when the perfect insects are generally ready
to appear, I found that several of the larvæ had rather shrunk up and had
not changed into nymphs. These I left in the stems, covering them up again,
and they appeared as perfect insects in the May of the following year.
The account given of the nesting habits of the above _Andrena_ of our
lawns, etc., is more or less true of nearly all the solitary bees. Their
methods vary, some burrow in the ground, some in old wood, some in snail
shells, some in bramble stems or straws or the hollow stems of various
plants, some in holes or crevices in walls, etc., and their methods of
building their cells vary exceedingly: all of these are of great interest
and some display an ingenuity which is quite surprising. Of these special
nesting habits some of the most striking will be mentioned later on.
Before leaving these general remarks on the {13} solitary bees the habits
of two genera must be specially noticed, as they differ in an essential
point from those of the others. These are known to entomologists under the
names of _Halictus_ and _Sphecodes_.
In most species of these the males and females of the new brood are not
hatched out till after midsummer, and no work is done for the provisioning
of new burrows that autumn; but the female, after having undertaken the
duties of maternity, hibernates, i.e. goes back into a burrow and lives
there till the next spring, the males dying off before the winter. In the
spring the [female] wakes up and does the necessary work for the future
brood just as any ordinary spring bee would--but there are no attendant
males--the duties of that sex having been performed in the autumn. The
larvæ contained in these burrows hatch out after midsummer and therefore
never spend a winter in the ground. In this respect they resemble the
social bees and wasps, about which more hereafter; in the meanwhile a few
words must be said about the cuckoos or inquilines, which are perhaps the
most interesting creatures of all.
* * * * *
{14}
THE CUCKOO BEES
These cuckoos live at the expense of their hosts. The mother of the
industrial brood makes her cell and provisions it, and lays her egg. The
cuckoo bee manages to enter also and lay her egg in the same cell, the
usual result being that the cuckoo devours most of the food instead of the
rightful offspring, which gradually gets starved and dies, the cuckoo
appearing in its place; but there have been cases, how frequent they are is
difficult to say, in which both offsprings have emerged.
The whole problem of the relationships between host and cuckoo is most
interesting. In some cases the cuckoos are so like their hosts that it is
difficult to tell one from the other, in others they are so unlike that it
is difficult to trace any resemblance between them. There are a great
number of different kinds of cuckoos, and most of them select a special
host to associate {15} with, and are never found except with that species.
There are, however, cases of cuckoos which visit the nests of more than one
host, and cases of hosts which are visited by several kinds of cuckoos. In
the short-tongued bees, with the exception of _Halictus_ and _Sphecodes_,
the cuckoos are quite unlike their hosts both in form and colour. In the
_Andrenas_ (the lawn bee being one of them) the hosts are clothed with
reddish, or brown and black, hairs, and are of a more or less stout build
(pl. B, 15, 16). The cuckoos are elegant in shape, almost devoid of hairs,
and most of them are striped with yellow or brown across the body so that
they present a wasp-like appearance (pl. B, 18). Species more unlike one
another than host and cuckoo one could hardly imagine; still this stranger
seems to get access to the nest of its host without opposition. In a colony
of _Andrena_ one may see the cuckoos (which rejoice in the name of _Nomada_
or wanderers) flying about among the females of the industrious bee, and no
alarm or concern appears to be felt by the latter. As we go up in the scale
of bees, i.e. towards the more specialized, and arrive at those with longer
tongues, the {16} cuckoos are found as a rule to resemble their hosts more
closely, both in colour and structure, and when we reach the social genus
_Bombus_ (i.e. the humble bees) we find the cuckoos so like their hosts
(pl. D, 30, 31) that even entomologists of experience mistake one for the
other. _Apis_ (the hive bee) has no cuckoo. It seems to be theoretically
probable that both cuckoo and host once originated from common parents;
this is suggested by the similarity of structure of certain parts of both
host and cuckoo, even in cases where they are otherwise most dissimilar.
_Andrena_ and _Nomada_, for instance, which are very unlike, as stated
above, agree in both having very feeble stings and in possessing three
conspicuous spines on the upper and posterior edge of the orbit of the
larva. Also, although _Andrena_ the host has a short tongue, and _Nomada_,
its cuckoo, a long one, the appendages (_labial palpi_) of the latter's
tongue are framed on the same plan as those of the tongue of _Andrena_, and
are quite unlike those of the other long-tongued bees. On the other hand,
the cuckoos of the social species resemble them so closely in structure as
well as {17} appearance that it is more necessary to search for points of
difference than of similarity. There is only one case known of a cuckoo
wasp, and that resembles its host even more closely than do the cuckoos of
the humble bees. All these points certainly suggest the probability that
the social bees and wasps and their cuckoos adopted different habits at a
much more recent date than the solitary species, and therefore have not had
so much time to become differentiated in structure. The only short-tongued
bees which have cuckoos of similar structure are the species of _Halictus_
(pl. B, 12); their cuckoos, _Sphecodes_ (pl. B, 11), are closely allied to
them, but then _Halictus_ and _Sphecodes_ are most peculiar genera;
although short-tongued, their females spend the winter in the earth, as do
the social bees and wasps (see p. 13), and they colonize largely, which may
prove to be a step towards socialism.
* * * * *
{18}
THE FOSSORS OR DIGGERS
In many respects the insects of this section adopt the same methods as the
solitary bees so far as the construction of their nests is concerned, but
the food brought home for their offspring is animal instead of vegetable.
In order to supply their larvæ with "fresh meat" these little creatures,
when they have captured a suitable prey, sting it in such a way that it
becomes paralyzed, but does not die; after provisioning a cell with the
necessary number of these paralytics, the mother lays her egg on one of
them or amongst them, and closes up the cell. In consequence of this
wonderful maternal instinct, foresight, or whatever the faculty may be, the
larva when hatched finds fresh food ready for consumption. The various
species provision their nests with different kinds of foods, and some
appear to be most fastidious in their selection, and are said never to err
in choosing {19} species of some particular family, thereby displaying a
discernment worthy of any advanced entomologist. Some provision their cells
with beetles, some with grasshoppers, others with spiders, caterpillars,
plant lice, etc.
The strength possessed by the female fossor must be proportionately
enormous, as she can bring back to her burrow, after paralyzing them,
insects many times her own size. It is a most interesting sight to see the
excitement and flurry of the captor as it tries to drag along some huge
prey to its nest. I remember seeing one dragging along a good-sized
caterpillar, of a noctuid moth, over rather rough ground: the poor creature
had a difficult job; it had to go backwards itself, and pull the body of
the caterpillar, after it--its behaviour was very much like that of an ant
which has a large burden; at times it would loose its hold of it and try it
from some other quarter; however, by degrees, by pulling and tugging, the
prey was safely brought home, but the force expended must have been very
great. Many species, however, hunt insects of much smaller size than
themselves, and it is those which take a fancy to grasshoppers and {20}
caterpillars which seem to be the most doughty in deeds of force. One, a
very rare kind in this country, sets its affection especially on the honey
bee as a prey; the two insects are about equal in size, but the hive bee
must be a dangerous foe to attack, and one would have thought as likely to
sting its captor as its captor would be to sting it; also one would imagine
that a hive bee, unless thoroughly paralyzed, would be a dangerous subject
for a juvenile larva to commence making a meal upon! but whether the
venture ever turns out unsatisfactorily there are no data to show, so far
as I am aware. The larvæ must vary very much in their tastes; one can
imagine that a nice juicy caterpillar, or even a good fat grasshopper, may
be appetizing and easily assimilated, but one can equally fancy that the
larvæ, who wake up to find their food consisting of small hard beetles, may
feel more or less resentment against their parents' ideas of dainties for
the young! Still they seem to thrive on it, and come out eventually as
exact likenesses of their parents. A large number of the fossors inhabit
dry sandy wastes, such as the dunes along the sea coast at Deal, Lowestoft,
{21} etc.; many of these, when they leave their burrows, throw up some sand
over the hole so as completely to cover it; how these insects find the spot
again after a lengthy chase after spiders or other prey is a marvel; and
yet those who have observed carefully say that they come home from long
distances with unerring precision. No sense of which we have any knowledge,
however accentuated, seems to explain this. To be able to arrive back at a
home in an extensive arid sandy plain, where no outward sign indicates its
whereabouts, must surely require perception of a different nature from any
of those with which we are endowed. Some fossors are subject to the
depredations of cuckoos, just as the solitary bees are, but their cuckoos
are rarely of aculeate origin. The only ones which I have had any
opportunity of studying are the species which nest in bramble stems. The
cuckoos which associate with them are some of the smaller jewel flies and
_Ichneumons_: the habits of both these differ from those of the aculeate
cuckoos, the jewel flies devouring the larva of the aculeate and the
_Ichneumon_ laying its eggs in it. The fossors {22} [Illustration: FIG. 2.]
vary exceedingly in size, shape and colour. Our largest species are about
an inch long and our smallest about the eighth of an inch, nearly all
having the body where it joins the thorax constricted into a very narrow
waist; this is sometimes of considerable length. In one genus known to
entomologists by the name _Ammophila_ (fig. 2) or "lover of the sand", the
waist is practically the longest part of the body, so that looking at one
sideways as it flies along, one could almost be deceived into thinking that
there were two insects, one following the other (cf. pl. A, fig. 7). In
colour, there seem to be three dominant schemes: Black (cf. pl. B, fig.
17); black with a red band across the body (cf. pl. A, fig. 7); and black
banded with yellow, like a wasp (cf. pl. A, figs. 6 and 8, etc.) In some
the yellow bands may not be complete, and appear only as spots on each side
of the body segments, or the red band may be almost obliterated, or the
black species may {23} [Illustration: FIG. 3.] [Illustration: FIG. 4.] be
more or less variegated with yellow spots on the head and thorax, but as a
general rule all our species fall into one or other of these colour
schemes. The females of some of our sand frequenting species have beautiful
combs on their front feet, each joint of the tarsi having one or more long
spines on its external side (figs. 3 and 4). These are of importance to
them in their burrowing, as they enable them to move with one kick of their
front leg a considerable amount of the dry sand in which they make their
nests. Although sandy commons, etc., are the resort of many fossors, others
may be found burrowing in wood or in hard pathways or banks; in fact, like
most other insects, some of their members may be found almost anywhere.
* * * * *
{24}
THE SOLITARY WASPS
The ordinary wasps are acquaintances of every one, but the solitary or
keyhole wasps are not so well known, although they are far from uncommon.
They are little narrow black insects striped across the body with yellow,
belonging to the genus _Odynerus_ (pl. A, 9), and might hardly be
recognized as belonging to the same family as the true or social wasps.
Still they have considerable powers of stinging, and fold their wings
lengthwise when at rest like their larger relatives. I dare say some people
may have noticed that a wasp's wing sometimes assumes a narrow straight
form, quite unlike what it is when expanded. This is due to the wasp being
able to fold its wing lengthwise like a fan. The wasp tribe are, so far as
I know, the only stinging Hymenoptera which have this power.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
They make their nests of mud, etc., in crevices of walls, in banks, in
plant stems, and often {25} in most inconvenient places, such as keyholes,
etc. Some of the solitary wasps have a very curious habit of making a
tubular entrance to their hole. These may sometimes be seen projecting from
sandy banks. The tube is composed of a series of little pellets of mud,
which the wasp by degrees, with the help of its mouth secretions, sticks
together till a sort of openwork curved tube of sometimes an inch long is
formed (fig. 5). This curve is directed downwards, so that the wasp has to
creep up it before reaching the actual orifice of the nest. It looks as if
the first shower of rain would wash the whole structure away, and I have
very little doubt that it often does so. The object of these tubes is
difficult to appreciate. There is a bee on the continent which makes
straight chimneys above its holes, so as to raise the entrance above the
surrounding herbage; possibly these solitary wasps once required {26} their
tubes also for some such purpose, and have continued on truly conservative
lines to build them long after all usefulness has passed away from the
habit; anyhow they are very interesting and beautiful structures. I have
found the tubes of one of our rarer species projecting perpendicularly out
of the level sand, but even then the tubes were curved over at the end, so
that the wasp had to go up and down again before entering its actual hole.
The Rev. F. D. Morice in 1906 found the tubes of the same species in
numbers projecting from the walls of an old stuccoed cottage situated close
to the locality where I found mine, so it is evident that more than one
situation suits its requirements. The solitary wasps provision their cells
with caterpillars, stinging them in the same way as the fossors do. One
very peculiar genus, of one species only in this country, has its body much
narrowed at the waist by reason of the constricted form of the basal
segment; it makes a little round nest of clay which it suspends from a twig
of heather or other plant. This species is rarely met with except on the
heathery commons of Surrey, Hants, Dorset, etc. The {27} solitary wasps are
subject to the attacks of cuckoos belonging to the jewel fly or _Chrysis_
tribe; these behave differently from those belonging to the aculeate
groups, as their larvæ do not eat the food laid up for the wasp, but wait
till the wasp larva has finished feeding up, and then devour it. Unlike as
these cuckoos are to their hosts in their brilliant metallic coloration,
etc., they have structural characters curiously like theirs, so that even
here a common parentage in bygone generations may be reasonably suspected.
At present, however, they are placed, except by a few systematists, in
quite distinct families of the Hymenoptera.
In general form these solitary wasps resemble the fossors more than the
bees; they have mostly short tongues (I think all our British ones have),
and their hairs are simple or more or less spirally twisted.
* * * * *
{28}
THE SOCIAL GROUPS
The social bees are certainly the most highly specialized of the
_Anthophila_, and the social wasps of the _Diploptera_ or insects with
folded wings. The ants occupy a less definite position: they would seem to
be the outcome of specialization among the fossors, only they feed their
young with vegetable juices and not with animal as the latter do. They are
always kept as a separate tribe under the name _Heterogyna_, but for our
purposes the better known word "ant" will suffice.
The hive bee and the social wasps are the only British Hymenoptera which
adopt the hexagonal cell-formation in their nests, the bee fashioning its
cells in wax, the wasps and hornet in masticated wood or paper. The
formation of ants' nests is far less regular, being composed of irregular
passages, called galleries, and open spaces, no doubt built on a plan, but
probably {29} in respect of plan no two nests are exactly alike. The humble
bees again differ from either in their nesting habits: the female in the
spring seeks out a mouse's nest or other suitable foundation of moss, etc.,
in or on the surface of the ground, according to the species. This she
lines with wax, deposits a heap of pollen, and lays her eggs in it. She
also makes waxen cells for honey, but these are not hexagonal and
symmetrical as are those of the hive bee, but are more like little pots,
and are known as "honey pots".
It must be borne in mind that the economic arrangements of the wasps and
humble bees only last for a single season, whereas those of the ant and
hive bee exist for many years. In consequence of this the swarming habits
belong exclusively to the ants and hive bee. That of the hive bee is well
known to all, and most people must have observed the swarms of male and
female ants which fill the air on some sultry summer or autumn evening.
Thousands of these must perish, but a certain number of the females accept
the responsibility of starting a fresh nest, and so the ant population is
kept up. {30} It will be seen from these remarks that the three social
groups are very distinct in their methods of nest making, and have really
very little in common except the social habit. The humble bees have their
cuckoos; one species of wasp has a cuckoo, and there is a possible case of
a cuckoo amongst the continental ants, but this has not yet been observed
in this country. The ants harbour so many species of insects in their nests
besides their own family that it is difficult to form an idea as to whether
the case in question is at all analogous to that of host and cuckoo in the
other aculeates or not.
* * * * *
{31}
THE ANTS
These little creatures are probably the most intelligent of all the
insects--and yet at times they seem to wander about almost aimlessly. A
worker may be found with an insect or something which it is eagerly
dragging along and drops probably from fear. It appears anxious to regain
its hold of it, but goes about in all sorts of wrong directions before it
again finds it, it may be to make sure its enemy is clear away before it
resumes operations, but the effect to the ordinary onlooker is one of sheer
incapacity--at the same time the wonderful habits of the tribe, the way in
which they keep plant lice for their larvæ, their methods of carrying each
other, their nest-building, and the slave-making instincts of some of the
species, show an intelligence surpassed by no other family of insects.
Their nests are formed in very various ways: the same species even will
sometimes nest under a stone and sometimes make ant hills; some {32} of the
large species make their nests of huge heaps of fir needles, and number 400
to 500 thousand in one nest--others live in quite small communities,
nesting in bramble stems, old rotten wood, moss, etc. One little species,
rare with us, lives in the walls of other ants' nests, just as mice live in
the walls of our houses; another quite small species lives apparently on
friendly terms with the common large red or horse ant, and may be found
running about amongst them, on and in their nests, but, so far as I know,
nothing is known as to how its young are reared. There is a curious
division in the family between the ants that have true stings and those
which have not. The large ants of our fir woods can bite and are able to
eject poison through the apical opening of the body into the wound they
create, but these as well as the larger and smaller black ants and some
others have the sting undeveloped, whereas some of our small species have a
sting which they can use with considerable effect; this difference in habit
is accompanied by a difference in the structure in the basal segments of
the body. In the stingless species the basal segment is reduced {33}
[Illustration: FIG. 6] to a flat upright transverse scale (fig. 6, 1); in
the stinging ants two segments at the base are reduced to nodes (fig. 6,
3). There is an exception in the case of one little rare genus, _Ponera_,
which has only the basal abdominal segment reduced to a scale although a
much thicker scale than in the others (fig. 6, 2), and yet which has a
distinct sting. These arrangements give the body very free movement so that
the tail can be bent forward till it reaches the head. Another curious
distinction between the stingers and non-stingers is that the larvæ of the
former spin cocoons and those of the latter do not; the larvæ of _Formica
fusca_ occasionally do not do so, but they are an exception to the rule.
Cocoon spinning seems to involve the larvæ in some difficulties, as without
the help of the worker ants they are often unable to extract themselves
from their prison. This is a condition which does not, I believe, exist in
other groups. In the stingless ants there is a curious difference in habit
between the {34} species of the genus _Formica_, where, according to Forel,
the workers do not follow in line over unknown ground, and frequently carry
one another, the one carried being rolled up under the head of the other,
and the species of _Lasius_, where the workers follow one another in line,
but never carry each other. Among the stinging ants another method of
carrying occurs in certain genera. The porter seizes the one she wishes to
carry by the external edge of one of her mandibles and then throws her over
her back, so that she lies along the back of her porter with her ventral
aspect uppermost and her legs and antennæ folded as in the nymph state.
Neither of these methods sounds very comfortable, but then probably an
ant's idea of comfort and our own may be very different.
Lord Avebury, in his _Ants, Bees and Wasps_, tells us that he has known a
male of _Myrmica ruginodis_ live for nine months, although no doubt, as he
says, they generally die almost immediately, and he has known queen ants to
live for seven years, and workers, which he had in his nest, for six years.
* * * * *
{35}
THE SOCIAL WASPS
Of these we have only seven different kinds, and with the exception of the
hornet they are all very much alike. One often hears people say that they
have seen such a large wasp that they think it must have been a hornet, but
no one who has ever seen a hornet could mistake a wasp for one. A hornet is
_red-brown_ with yellow markings (pl. B, 13), a wasp is _black_ and yellow,
and altogether a less formidable-looking creature (pl. B, 14). Even a queen
wasp is not so large as a small worker hornet. The hornet nests in hollow
trees, our three commoner wasps nest, as a rule, in the ground, but
occasionally in outhouses, under roofs, etc. One of the others as a rule
makes its nest in shrubs, but occasionally in the ground, another always
nests in a bush or shrub, preferring a gooseberry or currant bush, and the
only remaining one is a cuckoo of one of the ground species. The
gooseberry-bush {36} wasp is not a common species in the south, but in the
midlands and north it is abundant. Wasps will eat most things, but are
especially fond of syrups and sweets. One species, _Vespa sylvestris_,
which seldom enters our houses, is very partial to the flowers of
_Scrophularia_ (Figwort). One rarely finds a plant of this in full blossom
without finding its attendant wasps. I have seen other species of wasps
also visiting it, but _sylvestris_ is practically sure to be there. The
diet which wasps provide for their larvæ is probably a mixed one, but
consists largely of insects. Dr. Ormerod says that a microscopic
examination of the contents of a larval stomach shows "the mass to consist
of scales, hairs and other fragments of insects, hairs of vegetables and
other substances less easy of recognition."
[Illustration: PLATE B.
10. _Colletes succinctus_, _female._ 11. _Sphecodes subquadratus_,
_female._ 12. _Halictus leucozonius_, _female._ 13. _Vespa crabro_,
_female._ 14. _Vespa vulgaris_, _female._ 15. _Andrena fulva_, _male._ 16.
_Andrena fulva_, _female._ 17. _Panurgus banksianus_, _female._ 18. _Nomada
ruficornis_, _var. signata_, _female._ 19. _Epeolus rufipes_, _female._
[_face p. 36._ ]
{37} Wasps do not store honey in their nest; the papery nature of their
cells would make such storage impossible. I dare say some of my readers
will have noticed wasps sitting in the sun on a wooden paling busily
engaged apparently eating something--they are really pulling off little
fibres of wood which they chew up into a substance fitted for the walls of
their cells; they will also chew paper, and the experiment has been tried
of giving them coloured papers, which resulted in stripes of colour
appearing in their nests. The different species vary somewhat in the
architecture of their nests; but they are built very much on the same
general plan. The population of some underground nests is very large. The
Rev. G. A. Crawshay estimated the number in a large nest of _Vespa
vulgaris_, which he took on September 20, 1904, at about 12,000; of these
he actually counted, including eggs and larvæ, 11,370, and estimated the
rest as having left the nest and escaped, so that anyhow the computation
cannot be far wrong. This, however, was probably a very large nest. The
cuckoo wasp (_Vespa austriaca_), formerly known as _V. arborea_, is an
associate of _Vespa rufa_; its habits had been suspected for a long time,
but Mr. Robson set all doubts at rest by finding the nymphs of the cuckoo
in the actual nest of _rufa_. It is a rare species in the south, but far
from uncommon as one goes north, and also in Ireland, where the
relationship of the host and cuckoo have been {38} carefully studied by
Prof. Carpenter and Mr. Pack Beresford. _Vespa vulgaris_ has a beetle
parasite, but this is somewhat of a rarity. This creature _Metoecus
paradoxus_ lays its egg in the cell of the wasp, and enters the body of the
larva, eventually entirely devouring it. The hornet also has a beetle
associate, but this is a great rarity. It is a large black species of the
"Devil's coach horse" or "Cock tail" tribe (_Velleius dilatatus_), but in
what relation it stands to the hornet beyond inhabiting its nest is not
known.
* * * * *
{39}
THE HUMBLE BEES
Of these beautiful creatures we have thirteen kinds in this country. Their
velvety clothing and bright colours make them the favourites of most
people. They are most industrious and may be seen on the wing from early
morning often till quite late on summer evenings, whereas the solitary bees
do not, as a rule, commence work till nine or ten in the morning, except in
very hot weather, and generally retire about four or five p.m. There is an
idea prevalent that humble bees do not sting, but this is fallacious. They
can sting pretty severely, but I do not think they are so ready to use
their defensive weapon as a wasp or hive bee is. The length of the tongue
in these creatures makes them of great value to the farmer and gardener, as
they can fertilize the red clover and probably other flowers which require
a longer tongue to reach the nectary than is possessed by the hive bee.
{40} In New Zealand, when first the red clover was introduced from this
country, it was found impossible to fertilize it, and humble bees had to be
sent out. Now they are established there its fertilization is carried on
quite successfully. The humble bees are divided into two natural groups,
the underground species, i.e. those that make a subterranean nest, and the
carder bees, as they have been called, which make a nest on the surface of
the ground. The former live in much larger communities and are far more
aggressive and pugnacious than the latter. They also feed their young,
according to Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, of Ripple Court, in a different way. The
carder bees "form little pockets or pouches of wax at the side of a
wax-covered mass of growing larvæ into which the workers drop the pellets
of pollen direct from their hind tibiæ. The pollen storers, on the
contrary, store the newly gathered pollen in waxen cells, made for the
purpose, or in old cocoons, specially set apart to receive it, from which
it is taken and given to the larvæ mixed with honey through the mouths of
the nurse-bees as required." As the author remarks, the methods of the
underground {41} species more resemble those of the hive bee than do those
of the carder bees. Mr. Sladen has made many experiments in trying to
domesticate humble bees, and succeeded so far with _Bombus terrestris_ (pl.
D, 29, our common black and yellow banded species with a tawny tail) as to
get it to breed in captivity, and in 1899 was able to show nests in full
work at the Maidstone agricultural show, the bees coming in and out of the
building to their nest. An interesting case of one of the carder bees
(_Bombus agrorum_) is recorded by F. Smith. It invaded a wren's nest,
heaping up its pollen, etc., amongst the eggs of the bird, till the parent
bird was forced to desert the nest. The underground species are more
subject to the attacks of cuckoos than the carder bees. Altogether the
humble bees afford an excellent subject for study, as they appear to be
amenable to treatment, and to any one who could give time and careful
attention to them many interesting problems connected with them and not yet
understood might have light thrown upon them. Dead humble bees are often
found in numbers in a mutilated state, under lime trees. These {42} have