138 NOTES ON ANTHOPHORA ABRUPTA 



information has been obtained concerning the hal^its of a few 

 species of the Anthophorinae and certain other insects that 

 hve in their cells and burrows. Reference is given to all such 

 publications of interest from the standpoint of this article as 

 they are mentioned in the text of this paper. 



A. Nest Situations 



My attention was first called to a colony of Anthophora abrupta 

 Say, when collecting insects near Oakwood, Illinois in the Spring 

 of 1917. Oakwood is a small town about twenty miles east of 

 Urbana, Illinois. Within a radius of two or three miles of Oak- 

 wood are many small areas, ecologically quite different, which 

 offer ideal collecting grounds for this section of the state. One 

 day while collecting Hymenoptera on flowers near the margin 

 of a small rocky stream in this territory, I chanced upon several 

 bees of this species eagerly lapping up moisture held by the fine 

 sand bordering a tiny rivulet flowing into the main channel. 

 As I watched I saw these bees hurriedly leave and others take 

 their places, the whole performance being repeated again and 

 again. As their going and coming seemed to be over a definite 

 course I decided to follow them to their rendezvous if it were 

 possible. In so doing I soon realized that the bees in their 

 flight were following the line of least resistance, in this instance 

 a passage-way, broken through the underbrush lining the river 

 bank, and used by fishermen and other wanderers as myself. 

 Scarcely two hundred feet from where I saw the bees zealously 

 lapping up water I came upon a small clay bank which appeared 

 literally alive with them. Figure 1 is a photograph of this 

 bank, taken on July 11, 1919. 



For various reasons I was una])le to make further observa- 

 tions on the habits of this species in 1917 and 1918, but an 

 opportunity was again presented in 1919 and 1920. One of the 

 outstanding features of the hal)its of the adult Anthophora 

 abrupta is its preference for the old colony site, at least such 

 was the case with the mem})ers of this colony. This is evident 

 when one considers that nearly all my observations relating to 

 this species are centered about this one colony, first found in 

 the late Spring of 1917, tenanted in 1919 and 1920, and with 



