ROADSIDE LIFE. 265 



tect of it is pictured in Fig. 240. Its name is Monobia 

 quadridens {Mo-no bia quad'ri-dens). 



There are large carpenter-bees that make nests 

 similar to that of Monobia, except that the partitions 

 are formed of bits of wood 

 fastened together. These 

 bees resemble bumblebees 

 in size and appearance, but 

 differ in having a dense 

 brush on the hind legs in- 

 stead of a pollen basket. 



^ri r FlG. 240. Monolia quadridens. 



I he bees of the genus 



Megachile (Meg-a-chi 1 le) have the curious habit of mak- 

 ing cells for their young out of neatly cut pieces of 

 leaves, and on this account they are called leaf-cutter 

 bees. The cells of the leaf-cutter bees are packed 

 away in such secure places that one does not often 

 find them, but it is a very easy thing to find frag- 

 ments of leaves from which the pieces have been cut 

 by bees. The leaves of various plants are used for 

 this purpose, but rose-leaves are used more frequent- 

 ly than any other kind. In Fig. 241 there are repre- 

 sented one of these bees, its nest, and a spray of rose- 

 leaves from which pieces have been cut by the bee. 



The species represented here, JHegacJiile acuta (M. 

 a cu'tii], is a carpenter as well as a leaf-cutter. It 

 first makes a tunnel in wood, often selecting that 

 which is partially decayed ; then it proceeds to build 

 a thimble-shaped tube at the bottom of this tunnel. 

 For this purpose it cuts from the leaves oblong 

 pieces, each of w r hich forms a part of a side and the 

 bottom of the thimble-shaped tube. Two such 

 pieces had been cut from the lower leaf on the left 



