_Anthophora pilipes_ (pl. D, 24, 25), one of our early spring bees, often
forms enormous colonies. I have sometimes seen sandpits in which the sides
were riddled all over with holes of this species, and where the insects
were in such numbers that a distinct hum was audible from the vibration of
their wings. In such colonies one is sure to detect some of their cuckoo
associates, _Melecta armata_ (pl. D, 26). They are deep black bees, much of
the same size as their hosts but with more pointed tails and with a small
spot of snow-white hairs on the side of each segment of the body; like
other cuckoos they sail about in a more demure way than their hosts, but a
more lively scene than a large colony of _Anthophora_ can hardly be found.
The _Anthophora_ provisions its cells with honey and pollen, and its egg in
consequence floats on the top--the {62} number of cells varies from five or
six up to ten or eleven.
_Anthophora pilipes_ has a very close relative in _Anthophora retusa_,
which also forms large colonies, but it is as a rule less common. These two
species are exceedingly alike, in fact it requires some skill on the part
of the observer to differentiate their females. They are both black and
clothed with black hairs, and both have yellow pollen-brushes, but in
_retusa_ the hairs are shorter and not quite of such a deep black as those
of _pilipes_, and the spurs of the tibiae are pale, whereas in _pilipes_
they are black. The males, however, differ widely, although much alike in
colour; in _pilipes_ the feet of the middle pair of legs are clothed with
enormously long hairs, the basal joint has a dense fringe of black hairs in
front and some long black hairs behind (see pl. D, fig. 24); in _retusa_
the basal joint of the middle pair of feet have a fan-shaped fringe of
black hairs, and the rest of the joints are clothed with longer hairs, but
not long enough to be specially noticeable. _A. retusa_ is visited by the
same cuckoo as _A. pilipes_ and also by its rare ally _Melecta luctuosa_,
which only differs from _armata_ {63} (pl. D, 26) in the larger and squarer
spots of the body and various small structural characters hardly
appreciable except by specialists. The Anthophoras have other parasites
besides their cuckoos; one is a beetle, which, however, is rare, and which
lays its egg in the _Anthophora_ cells; the other is a very minute member
of the Hymenopterous family, whose larva when hatched feeds upon the larva
of the bee. Notwithstanding these disadvantages both species are abundant,
although _retusa_ is more local than _pilipes_. A very interesting fact
connected with this genus has just been communicated to me by the Rev.
F. D. Morice. John Ray, who lived in the seventeenth century, mentions in
his book _Historia Insectorum_ (published posthumously in 1710), p. 243,
that a large colony of a bee, which from his description was clearly an
_Anthophora_, as he specially calls attention to the great difference
between the males and females, inhabited a certain locality at Kilby near
"Hill Morton" in Northamptonshire. Mr. Morice, who for many years resided
at Rugby, knew Hillmorton, as it is now spelled, well, and tells me that a
large colony of _Anthophora_ was in that same locality when he knew it only
{64} a few years ago. Of course there is no proof that it has been there
throughout the intervening period, but there seems to be no reason to doubt
it, and if so it is a most interesting case of a persistent colony.
* * * * *
{65}