Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/164

 A HISTORY OF KENT Ellampus aeneus, Fab. Lewisham (Beaumont) Chrysis pustulosa, Ab. Maidstone (Elgar) Hedychridium minutum, Lep. ( = ardens, — viridula, L. (= bidentata, L.)- St. Coq.). Deal, Dover (Sladen) ; Barming Margaret' i Bay (Sladen), Bearsted (Elgar) (Elgar) Chrysis neglecta, Shuck. Maidstone (Elgar), — ignita, L. Common everywhere St. Margaret's Bay (Sladen) — ruddi, Shuck. St. Margaret's Bay — cyanea, L. Lewisham (Beaumont), (Sladen) Barming, Heme Bay (Elgar) ACULEATA Ants, Wasps and Bees This section of the Hymenoptera has been studied in Kent more than any of the others, and the occurrence of 303 species is recorded out of the 384 that have up to the present been taken in Great Britain. These include 16 species of ants (Heterogyna), 99 species of sand- wasps {Fossores), 18 species of true wasps [Diploptera), and 170 species of bees {Anthophild) . The habits of the Aculeata are more diverse and interesting than those of any other insects. Most of them Uve solitarily, each female forming and provisioning her own nest ; but in each of the groups except the Fossores there are a few species which dwell in colonies, the majority of the occupants of the colonies being workers (imperfect females). The history of the formation and maintenance of these colonies is more like that of a romance than a plain statement of natural facts. Amongst the bees several genera are in a manner parasitic on other bees ; they lay their eggs in their nests, so that the young of the parasite feeds upon the pollen that another bee has provided for her own offspring. The name of cuckoo-bees or ' inquilines ' has been given to these parasites. The food of the ants consists chiefly of animal matter, but scarcely anything comes amiss to them ; the wasps, solitary and social, prey mostly upon small insects which they catch and give to their young in a living or freshly-killed condition, although many of the adults are fond of honey, etc. ; the bees subsist entirely on honey and pollen gathered from flowers. As many as 8 species of Aculeata have not hitherto been recorded from any place in Britain outside of Kent. These are : T'achytes lativahis. Thorns., Miscopius maritimus, Sm., Cerceris emarginata, Pz., Odyfierus crassi- cornis, Panz., and among the bees Prosopis piinctulatissbna, Sm., Bofnbus pomorum, Vznz. , Andre?ja polita,^m.., and Cilissa melanura, Nyl. The last- named species has only recently been introduced into the British list. Of the others only two species have been taken lately, Miscophus maritimus, Sm., which occurs annually at Deal, and Andrena polita, Sm. A considerable amount of collecting has been done at intervals stretching over a good many years in certain spots in the county, but there are several large districts that are still entirely uninvestigated, and these certainly contain many rare and interesting species and probably a few new ones. The sandhills at Deal have long been known as a good 114