BO'MBUS, the generic name of those Insects commonly called Humble-Bees : this latter name was derived (Messrs. Kirby and Spence conjecture) from the German Hummer- or Hummel-Biene, a name probably given to these insects from the humming sound which they emit. The Bombi belong to the order Hymenoptera and family Apidm, and as regards the English species are by far the largest of the tribe. They may be distinguished by the following characters : Body thickly covered with hair ; head with a longitudinal groove and an indentation extending across from the upper part of the eyes ; in this indentation the three stemmata are placed, being arranged nearly in a straight line ; and it is from the central etemmatum that the longitudinal groove has its origin, whence it extends downwards; autennze with twelve joints ; labrum with its surface uneven ; man dibles with several longitudinal grooves on the upper side ; posterior tibim compressed, smooth, margined with strong recurved hairs, and armed with spines at the apex.
The above are the peculiarities of the females. In the males the autennm are thirteen-jointed and considerably longer than those of the other sex ; the hinder tibiae want the corbicula; the mandibles are bidentate at the apex and each furnished with a tuft of curved hairs ; they differ likewise in possessing no sting and in the structure of their claws, but these two last characters are common to the whole tribe of Apidce.
The neuter bees resemble the females in every respect excepting size ; iu this they are inferior to the males, which latter are rather less than the females.
Kirby, in hie monograph on the bees of this country, enumerates 37 species as belonging to his section * c. 2 :' this section, with the exception of a few species [Psmiaus], now constitutes the genus of which this article treats.
The prevailing colours of the species are yellow, red, and black : and as these colours are disposed with a certain degree of uniformity, we have arranged the following, which form the principal part of the British species, under three heads, namely, those which have the apex of the body more or less red, those which have that part white, and those In which the ground-colour of the body is yellow or buff : by this arrangement much repetition in the descriptions is avoided.
B. lapidaries (female), black. The male is rather long and narrow; head and anterior and posterior portions of the thorax yellow.
This species, well known by the name lted-Tailed Bee, is one of the largest and commonest of the genus ; the females are to be seen in the spring and summer months; in the autumn, when the males make their appearance, they are less common.
B. Raiellas (female). Smaller and shorter in proportion than the last, from which it may moreover be distinguished by having red hair on the hinder tibia'.
B. Derhasnellou, colour ashy-brown. Thorax and abdomen each with a black fascia. Most probably the male of the last described.
B. aubinterruptsu (female), black. Anterior portion of the thorax yellow ; abdomen with a subintemmted fascia of the same colour towards the base.
B. Pre/endive, black. Anterior portion of the thorax yellow.
B. Burrellanua (male), yellow. Thorax with the central portion black ; abdomen with a black fascia near the middle.
B. Cullumanua (male. Like the last, but the fascia of the abdomen is very narrow, occupying only one segment.
B. Donorandlus (female), black. Thorax with the anterior portion yellow; abdomen with the basal portion yellow. In the male the anterior portion of the thorax is obscurely coloured.
Section II. Apex of the Abdomen white.
B. terrestria—This is the largest and most common of the yellow and black Humble-Bees. It has the anterior margin of the thorax and the segment next the basal one of the abdomen of a yellow or buff colour ; the rest of the body is black, with the exception of the apex, which is sometimes of a dirty yellow colour and at others white.