Hudson. — On Instinct in Insects. 357 



collected into a heap, just such as the bees select. It struck 

 me as a very peculiar-looking mound, and I took up the lot 

 in my hand, when what should I see under it but a Helix 

 shell full of cells of the Osmia ! Here, then, was the explana- 

 tion of the mystery plain enough. These bees, when they 

 have filled a shell full of cells, set to work to cover it over — to 

 hide it both from the sun's rays and from any birds, mice, in- 

 sects, or other enemies that might chance to come across it. 

 Having so far succeeded, I made up my mind to return the 

 next morning, and prosecute my studies further in the same 

 direction. I soon found another of these peculiar little con- 

 structions ; so I sat myself down by it, and watched to see 

 what would occur. I was close enough to take it up if I 

 wanted to ; but the bee came with her load, perfectly indiffer- 

 ent to my presence, and deposited it in her own peculiar way 

 and to her own satisfaction, and then went away for another. 

 She worked hard, and brought them rapidly one after another. 

 With each one she would alight on the top of the mound, then 

 look round, walk over it, and with her jaws push one of the 

 ends into the heap where she wanted it to remain, and so fix 

 it. As soon as she was satisfied with its position off she went 

 for another, brought it in, and did exactly the same. Every 

 bent was put in its proper place, and she never laid one simply 

 down on the top while I watched her. 



" These nests very much resemble those of Formica ruf a 

 in miniature; they are- from 4in. to 6in. round the bottom, 

 and are from 2in. to Sin. high, so that they are very easily 

 detected when you once know what they are ; and the 

 labour spent upon them must be very great, for there are 

 hundreds of bents in each, and each one is brought and added 

 separately. I found some dozen or more, all within a short 

 distance, and three so close together that I could watch the 

 proceedings of them all at the same time. This furnishes a 

 complete history of the habits of this wonderful little Osmia. 

 — Wotton-under-Edge, England, 13th May, 1891." 



In this extremely interesting case, much as we might 

 desire to attribute individual intelligence to the insect, I do 

 not think it is possible to do so. The habits of the female bees, 

 first in selecting the empty snail-shells as receptacles for 

 their nests, and secondly in covering them over with sticks, 

 have probably been gradually produced by an immense number 

 of variations in instinct, those variations most favourable to 

 the welfare of the young under the given conditions having 

 been finally preserved. In the discussion which followed the 

 reading of Mr. Carlile's paper, Mr. Harding contrasted instinct 

 and reason, and showed how, in many respects, the former 

 attribute was superior to the latter. If it is admitted that 

 instinct is the inherited experience of the race, whilst reason 



