measure 1 inch in length, but are so stout in form that they appear
much larger; they are black and deep orange yellow, with dull yellow
wings tipped with black, and the stout broad thorax fits close against
the base of the abdomen. _Abispa splendida_ has the front half of
the first abdominal segment black, with the hind portion yellow, while
in _Abispa ephippium_ the whole of the first abdominal segment
is yellow. They both build very large, solid, clay nests generally
containing two rows of cells, about 6 in number, above each other,
with thick partitions between them; the outer surface is rounded on
the sides; each cell is stored with caterpillars upon which the larva
feeds, and finally pupates in a reddish brown parchment-like cocoon.
The Genus _Rhynchium_ comprises about six described species,
handsome insects not unlike the former in general form, but with the
abdomen more tapering. _Rhynchium mirabile_ measures ¾ of an inch
in length; it is of a general black colour, the head marked with,
and collar of thorax, yellow; and the hind margin of the abdominal
segments is ringed with slender bands of orange yellow. _Rhynchium
superbum_ is a smaller insect of similar form and colour, with the
basal half of the abdomen black and the hind portion rich yellow. Both
these species come from Queensland.
The Genus _Odynerus_ contains a great number of small thickset
wasps, that make clay nests of various shapes, sometimes very delicate
in structure, forming a finger-shaped row of clay cells or rounded
cup-shaped chambers; while some species make use of a hole in the
wood or wall and simply coat it over with clay. Australia is rich in
species, some of which have a very wide range. _Odynerus bicolor_,
one of our commonest species, is black, with the collar of the thorax,
legs, and all the abdomen except the basal segment, dull reddish
yellow. _Odynerus nigro-cinctus_ is of a general dark orange
yellow colour, with the head and centre of abdomen black. The closely
allied species forming the Genus _Alastor_ differ slightly in the
venation of the wings, but their habits are identical; about 30 species
have been described from Australia, chiefly by Saussure, some of which
are figured in colours in his Monograph. These wasps may be captured
round water-holes in the summer months, and may sometimes be found
resting upon grass stalks in the early morning.
Family 20. Social or Paper-nest Wasps.
VESPIDAE.
These typical wasps are found all over the world, and next to the
bees have probably received more attention from the casual observer
than most of the other groups. Each community consists of males,
females, and workers, and though the structure of their nests differs
considerably in the various groups, the social economy is the same.
The female first starting the nest constructs a stout stalk at the
apex attached to a twig or roof, and constructs a six-sided cell from
which the whole mushroom-shaped nest is built. In each little cell she
deposits an egg from which the legless white grub emerges, attaches
itself to the roof of the cell and hangs head downward, being fed
by the mother wasp until full grown with food chiefly composed of
masticated spiders, when it pupates under a silken cover spun over
the apex of the cell. As soon as it emerges it sets to work to help
on the nest, so that the community rapidly increases in numbers. The
nest of _Polistes tasmaniensis_ sometimes measures six inches in
diameter. Some confusion as to the identity of this species and _P.
variabilis_ seems to exist, but from Saussure’s description, our
common species appears to be _P. tasmaniensis_.
[Illustration: Plate XV.--HYMENOPTERA.
Family VESPIDAE.
1 & 5. Nests of _Polistes tasmaniensis_.
2. _Icaria gregaria_ (Sauss.).
3. Slender nest typical of Genus _Icaria_.
4. _Polistes tasmaniensis_ (Sauss.).
(Original photo. Burton.)]
[Illustration: _Plate XV.--HYMENOPTERA._]
The widespread Genus _Vespa_, though it is recorded from as far
down as Java, is unknown in Australia. We have however allied species
belonging to the genera _Icaria_ and _Polistes_. Those of the
genus _Icaria_ are the smaller wasps, the largest well under ½ an
inch in length; most of them are reddish brown, or mottled with black
and yellow; the abdomen is contracted into a stalk at the base, then
becomes rounded, with the apical segments small and telescopic, so that
when retracted it looks as if it were damaged. They all form similar
nests commencing with the usual stalk, but, unlike the larger
_Polistes_, the cells follow on in rows, forming finger-like
nests. _Icaria gregaria_, our commonest species, forms these
slender nests up to six inches in length. It is a dull reddish brown
wasp mottled with black on the thorax and legs, with the apex of the
abdomen lightest in colour.
Some of the members of the Genus _Polistes_ grow to a considerable
size, and armed with a powerful sting are very formidable insects;
several of the largest form small stalked nests on the under-side of
fallen logs; when hunting for insects and turning over dead wood one
is liable to disturb a family party and find it wise to beat a hasty
retreat. They differ from the previous group in having no stalk to
the abdomen, which is very slender at the base, rounded to the middle
and tapers to a pointed apex. _Polistes tasmaniensis_, our most
sociable species, is very fond of building her large nest (previously
noticed) under one’s verandah, or the porch over the door, and is quite
ready to attack any one when disturbed. It is one of the smallest
species, measuring under ¾ of an inch in length; is of a general dark
brown colour marked with reddish brown; the abdomen is irregularly
banded, with the first basal band finest. _Polistes tepidus_, one
of our largest wasps, is almost black, with face, tips of legs, and
thorax marked with dark orange yellow, and the abdomen banded with
rusty red. _Polistes humilis_ is of an almost uniform yellowish
brown tint, with the face marked with black. In the Queensland Museum
there are some very large paper-nests of some undetermined wasps that
have a regular comb-like structure containing thousands of cells, and
which are several feet in length.
Family 21. Shining Wasps.
MASARIDAE.
These curious wasps stand quite alone as the last group of the true
Vespidae, and are a comparatively small family, comprising several
distinctive genera containing altogether sixty species found in the
Mediterranean region, South and North America, and Australia.
They are wasp-like in waist, with the antennae thickened toward the
tips or clubbed; the wings contain two sub-marginal cells; and the feet
are furnished with curious toothed or rather hooked claws. The European
species are known to build nests in the ground, forming a tunnel ending
in a clay cell in which the larvae live and are fed by the mother in
the same manner as the true wasps forming the papery nests; others
construct clay chambers attached to twigs.
Shuckard when he formed the typical Australian Genus _Paragia_
named it “in allusion to its deceptive habit, which is precisely that
of a Vespa.” Saussure wrote a monograph on the Masaridae forming
the third part of the Vespidae published in 1856; Smith has also
contributed to our knowledge of Australian species in the British
Museum Catalogue 1857, and subsequently in several papers in the
Entomological Society of London between 1864–1869.
Seventeen species have been described in the Genus _Paragia_, but
nothing has been recorded about their habits or life history: several
are described from Tasmania and New South Wales, but all the specimens
in my collection come from the northern part of Australia.
_Paragia decipiens_ was described and figured by Shuckard in the
Transactions of the Entomological Society, 1837; it measures under ¾ of
an inch in length, and is of a general black colour, with the front and
sides of the thorax spotted with yellow, and the whole of the smooth
rounded abdomen of the same bright colour except the base, which is
black; the wings are smoky brown, with the nervures black. _Paragia
bicolor_ is a larger insect measuring nearly 1 inch in length; the
head and thorax are black, and the abdomen bright metallic blue; the
under surface and sides of the first three segments, and the base of
the thorax, are marked with bright yellow.
Family 22. Bees.
ANTHOPHILA or APIDAE.
The Australian region is rich in bees peculiar to the country; and
while we have representatives of many of the foreign groups, yet
several well-known genera, such as _Apis_, _Bombus_, _Eucera_,
_Colletes_ and _Osmia_, though ranging over the greater part of the
world, are unknown in Australia.
The classification of the bees is still somewhat unsatisfactory.
Latreille termed them MELLIFERA, honey gatherers, or ANTHOPHILA, lovers
of flowers: Westwood and others, while keeping this as a group name,
subdivided them into two large families, ANDRENIDAE, short-tongued
bees, and APIDAE, long-tongued bees, dividing the last family into
five smaller groups based upon their different structure and habits.
The European bees have been since placed under six headings; while in
Dalla Torre’s Catalogue dealing with the bees of the whole world, there
are no less than fourteen sub-families. Most of our species have been
described by Smith, in the British Museum Catalogue, Hymenoptera 1853;
others in the Transactions of the Entomological Society 1862–68, and
New Species, British Museum 1879. Cockerell (Ann. & Mag. Nat. History
1905) described a number of new species of our bees examined by him in
the British Museum Collections, and added some interesting information
on species already described; as many of these specimens were collected
by Turner, Walker, and myself and sent to the British Museum, the
Australian localities are given.
None of the short-tongued bees store up honey, but form cells or
burrows in the ground, walls, cavities in rocks, or the stems of
plants, in which they form a row of cells or little chambers each
containing an egg and sufficient bee bread for the development of the
larva. Some of these bees are parasitic, and live at the expense of
the industrious species, crawling into the open nests and laying their
eggs upon the food supply of the rightful occupant; these are popularly
known as “cuckoo bees.”
The members of the Genus _Prosopis_ are handsome, shining black or
steel blue bees, marked with bright yellow upon the face and thorax.
With the additions that Cockerell has made to the list, nearly fifty
species are described from Australia, and a number are common in
the vicinity of Sydney. _Prosopis vidua_, our largest species, but
considerably smaller than the honey bee, is found upon the crimson
flowers of the bottlebrush (_Callistemon_). It has the head and thorax
black, with a yellow spot on the face and the base of each fore wing;
the abdomen is bright metallic blue. A smaller undetermined species
may be often noticed hovering round and entering holes in the soft
sandstone rocks where it appears to nest. _Prosopis metallica_, a
shining black species, smaller than _P. vidua_, with face and shoulders
broadly marked with yellow, was bred out of a row of half a dozen brown
papery cocoons placed in an empty burrow formed in the branch of a
wattle tree by the larva of some longicorn beetle.
_Lamprocolletes plumosus_ and several other species of the genus
frequent the flowers of the Leptospermum. It is a handsome dark brown
bee, under ½ an inch in length. The abdomen has a metallic sheen, and
the head and thorax are clothed with fine down.
_Hylaeoides concinnus_ is a very remarkable looking black bee, with
clouded smoky wings, marked with bright red on the face, and with bands
of the same colour on the base and tip of the abdomen. I have usually
captured this bee upon bushes; it bears such a decided superficial
resemblance to a small clay nesting (_Odynerus_) wasp, that this may be
a case of protective mimicry. The Genus _Paracolletes_ has been added
to by Cockerell, who describes twelve new species in his recent papers.
_Paracolletes crassipes_ was described by Smith from W. Australia, but
it is common on low scrub in the early part of the year on the Blue
Mountains N.S.W. It is a handsome black bee about ½ an inch in length,
with the head and thorax thickly clothed with pale buff hairs, and the
abdominal segments banded on the upper surface with dull brown.
_Gastropsis (Oestropsis) pubescens_ is nearly as large as a honey bee,
with curious thickened antennae, slender at the basal joint. It is
somewhat flattened on the upper surface and clothed all over with a
dense coat of pale buff coloured hairs, only showing indistinct brown
bars on the abdomen. I know nothing about the habits of this curious
bee; it has been described from Western and South Australia.
The Genus _Halictus_ is represented by about thirty described species;
nothing has been recorded about the habits of our species, but most
of the European form galleries in the ground connected with a large
excavation or chamber in which the larvae are placed in cells.
_Halictus floralis_ is a small bee with a reddish brown body; the front
of the head, antennae, legs, front and middle of thorax are light
yellow. _H. bicingulatus_ is black with the legs reddish brown, and
the segmental divisions of the abdomen light coloured. They are found
on grass and field flowers. _Nomia australica_, under ½ an inch in
length, is common on the flowers of the _Leptospermum_; it is a dull,
metallic blue bee with antennae, labrum, legs, and extreme tip of
abdomen reddish brown. The latter has a greenish sheen, and is somewhat
heart shaped, terminating in a fine point. Cockerell has added six new
species to our list, most of which are described from Queensland.
_Exoneura froggatti_ is a little bee not much over ¼ of an inch
in length, black with smoky rings, reddish legs and a curiously
sack-shaped reddish brown abdomen, broadest near the apex, but
contracted to a point at the tip. I have frequently cut them out of
small burrows in the dead stems of wattle trees. _Exoneura bicolor_
is a slightly larger species, with a darker, broader abdomen, and it
comes from Queensland. Cockerell has added three more new species, all
from the neighbourhood of Sydney. The great Carpenter Bees of the Genus
_Xylocopa_ are represented by four species, which are more common in
Queensland and the northern parts of Australia; but one species at
least, _Xylocopa aestuans_, ranges southwards. It is of the typical
broad form with dark coloured wings; the upper surface of the thorax
is clothed with yellow, other portions with black hairs. _Xylocopa
bryorum_ is a larger species measuring about 1 inch in length, with a
wing expanse of nearly two; the whole of the upper surface is thickly
clothed with golden yellow hairs, the brown beneath giving it a
greenish tint. The wings are light brown with black nervures, and the
hairs on the legs and under-surface are dark brown to black.
The closely allied Carpenter Bees of the Genus _Lestis_ are peculiar
to Australia. The male of _Lestis bombylans_ measures over ½ an inch
in length, and is of a rich metallic green, with the front of the face
striped with white; the thorax and base of abdomen are clothed with
golden hairs, those on the front of the thorax forming a double bar;
the hairs on the front pair of legs yellow, those on the hind pair
black; the wings are brown with faint iridescence. The female has the
face silvery, but no yellow down upon the thorax; the abdomen is deep
purple; and the wings almost opaque, varying from dark brown to rich
metallic violet colour in different lights. The second species, _Lestis
aerata_, is slightly larger, with the stripe on the face of the male
yellow, and all the legs fringed with yellow pubescence, while the
female is of a uniform brassy green, with wings light coloured, more
like those of the males, and only showing a slight iridescence. Both
species have a wide range; those about Sydney form their nests in the
dead flower stalks of the grass trees (_Xanthorrhoea_). It begins by
boring a circular hole 3½ lines in diameter towards the centre, then
turns downward, excavating all the pith to a depth of about 4 inches,
and then works out about the same distance above the opening, so that
the full length of the chamber is 8 inches, with an average of ½ an
inch in diameter. This is divided off into a row of cells, each about
½ an inch in length, with a ball of bee bread and an egg deposited
in the far end; each cell is separated by a stout wad of triturated
pith. I have never found the centre of the chamber in front of the
opening closed up with cells, a space always being left unoccupied on
both sides. The larvae are of the usual cylindrical form, attenuated
at the extremities, and of a dull white colour, about ½ an inch in
length, and can be found in all stages of development in November. The
pretty banded bees, formerly known under the name of _Anthophora_, but
now placed in the Genus _Podalirius_, are world wide in their range.
All our species have the head and thorax clothed with a dense coat of
buff or pale yellow hairs, and the body banded with black and blue of
various tints. _Podalirius emendatus_, our largest species, is found
on the northern rivers of N.S. Wales and is common in Queensland; it
has the head and thorax covered with rusty red pubescence, and the low
abdominal bands broad. _P. cingulatus_ is slightly smaller, with the
pubescence pale buff, the abdominal bands much the same; _P. pulcher_,
much smaller, with the pubescence darker, is our commonest species
about Sydney. _P. aeruginosus_ has the whole of the abdomen as well
as the head and thorax thickly clothed with a dull greenish yellow
pubescence. My specimens of this species come from Mackay, Queensland.
Five new species are added to this genus by Cockerell.
The Genus _Crocisa_ contains a few very handsome moderate sized bees of
a uniform black colour with smoky rings, and brightly marked bodies.
_Crocisa albo-maculata_, our largest species, has the face, upper
and under surface, and legs thickly marked and spotted with white
pubescence. It is a somewhat rare insect about Sydney. _C. lamprosoma_
is a smaller bee with the marks and spots pale blue, those upon the
abdomen forming a more regular pattern of four well defined rows.
In _C. nitidula_ the pubescence forms rich metallic blue spots and
blotches, most brilliant on the upper surface of the abdomen, where
they run right round the basal segment and form a regular row of short
bands on either side but not meeting on the dorsal surface. It is found
in New South Wales and Queensland.
[Illustration: Plate XVI.--HYMENOPTERA.
Family APIDAE.
1. _Xylocopa aestuans_ (Linn.). ♂.
1. _Xylocopa aestuans_ (Linn.). ♀.
2. _Lestis aeratus_ (Smith). ♀.
2. _Lestis aeratus_ (Smith). ♂.
5. _Crocisa nitidula_ (Fabr.).
6. _Crocisa lamprosoma_ (Boisd.).
7. _Sarapoda bombiformis_ (Smith).
8. _Megachile pictiventris_ (Smith).
9. _Megachile blackburni_ (Froggatt).
Family ANDRENIDAE.
3. _Hyleoides concinna_ (Fabr.). ♀.
10. _Paracolletes crassipes_ (Smith).
Family EUMENIDAE.
4. _Abispa splendida_ (Guérin).
11. _Odynerus nigro-cinctus_ (Saussure).
12. _Rhynchium mirabile_ (Saussure).
14. _Eumenes arcuatus_ (Fabr.).
Family SPHEGIDAE.
13. _Ammophila impatiens_ (Smith).
Family PHILANTHIDAE.
15. _Cerceris sp._
Family VESPIDAE.
16. _Polistes tepidus_ (Fabr.).
(Original photo. Burton.)]
[Illustration: _Plate XVI.--HYMENOPTERA._]
The great Genus _Megachile_ contains the leaf-cutting bees, so called
from the curious habit they have of cutting circular pieces out of the
leaves of growing plants with which they line their nests; these are
sometimes built in excavations in old walls, or dead wood, or simply
constructed like a cigar under stones. About 30 species have been
described from Australia; the two largest are _Megachile monstrosa_,
figured in Brenchley’s “Cruise of the Curaçoa,” published in 1873; and
_M. blackburni_, described by me from specimens obtained from Central
Australia by the Elder Exploring Expedition. _Megachile mystacea_, a
medium sized species found in Queensland and Northern Australia, is
also recorded from India; it is black, with the head and face clothed
with silvery hairs, and the whole of the abdomen covered with rich
reddish brown pubescence; while _M. pictiventris_ has the hind margin
of the thorax clothed with silvery hairs, the apical half of the
under-surface with reddish brown hairs which extend to form a fringe
round the extremity. _M. chrysopyga_ is a native of Tasmania and
Victoria. I found a nest of this species under a stone in the latter
State, which could be lifted up bodily without breaking. It was about
the shape and length of an ordinary cigar, and consisted of about nine
cells containing the larvae. These cells, like a series of shallow
thimbles, were enfolded in the outer shell of looser leaf.
The Genus _Coelioxys_ comprises a number of curious bees that in
general appearance are so very like the “leaf cutters,” that a French
naturalist having bred one out of a Megachile’s nest described it as
the male form of the species. They are now known to be parasitic in the
nests of these bees in Europe, so that the similarity in form may be
of great protective value to them. They differ chiefly in the form of
the abdomen, which in the males is produced into forked spines at the
extremity, and in the females into a sharp point.
I have two undetermined species in my collection from Queensland
obtained some years ago, but until last year the presence of this group
had not been recorded from Australia. Cockerell recorded (1905) two
species from this country; _Coelioxys albolineata_, measuring about ⅓
of an inch in length, comes from Queensland, and is of the usually grey
and brown tints.
The last group we have to deal with are the Australian stingless honey
bees, belonging to the Genus _Trigona_, which range all over Australia.
They collect quantities of dark coloured somewhat acid flavoured honey,
which they store up in little jug-shaped cells of dark brown wax,
forming an irregular comb attached to the walls of the cavity in which
they have constructed their hive by a network of irregular rods of wax.
They generally choose a cavity in the heart of a large gum-tree with
a small opening from the outside, and before commencing to make their
comb they plaster up all the cracks and inequalities of the chamber
with the sticky sap or gum of the Turpentine Tree (_Syncarpia_). This
chamber is usually about the size of a man’s head, and the comb as
a rule contains not more than a pint or two of honey. This is the
typical nest found in N.S. Wales, but in the tropical scrubs of North
Queensland many of them form a small funnel or spout projecting round
the opening, composed of a waxy-substance an inch or more in length. As
the green tree ants often capture these bees and are always swarming
over the tree trunks, this is probably a necessary protection. The
honey gatherers of _Trigona carbonaria_, our common species, are black,
thickset little bees measuring about ⅙ of an inch in length. They are
fearless little creatures when at work, and will allow themselves to
be picked off the flowers without any attempt to fly. Several species
have been recently added to our fauna, and though Dalla-Torre in his
Catalogue places the members of the genus Trigona in the _Melipona_,
which until then had only contained the allied stingless bees of South
America and the tropics, Cockerell retains them in the old genus,
describing a new species from Port Essington, and recording a species
known in Ceylon (_Trigona canifrons_) also from the north coast of
Australia.
Order V.--COLEOPTERA.
Beetles.