Insect Study 



437 



and although mummy-shaped we can see its folded wings and antennae. 

 After remaining a motionless pupa for a few days, it sheds its pupa skin 

 and now it is a bee just like its mother; but as the oldest bee is at the 

 bottom of the tunnel, even after it gets its wings and gnaws its way out of 

 its basket, it very likely cannot escape and find its way out into the sun- 

 shiny world, until its younger brothers and sisters have gone out before it. 



There are many species of these leaf-cutter bees and each species makes 

 its own kind of a nest, always cutting the same size of circlets and usually 

 choosing its own special kind of leaf to make this cradle. Some are 

 daintier in their tastes and use rolled petals instead of leaves; and we 

 have found some tiny cups made of gorgeous peony petals, and some of 

 pansy petals, a most exquisite material. 



At Chautauqua we found a species which rolled maple leaves into a 

 tube which held three or four cups, and we also found there a bee stowing 

 her cups in the open end of a tubular rod, used to hold up an awning. 

 There are other species which make short tunnels in the ground for their 

 nests, but perhaps the most common of all wedge their cups between or 

 beneath the shingles on the roofs of summer cottages. But, however or 

 wherever the leaf-cutter works, she is a master mechanic and does her 

 work with niceness and daintiness. 



Pansy cut by leaf-cutter bee. 

 Drawing by Anna C. Stryke. 



