THE CARPENTER BEE. 



21 



in the nests of its host. It differs from the Humble bee in having 

 no pollen-basket, showing that its larvte must feed on the food 

 stored up by their host, as it does not itself collect it. The 

 mandibles also are not, like those of Bombus, trowel-shaped for 

 architectural purposes, but acutely triangular, and are probably 

 not used in building. 



The caterpillars of various moths consume the honey and 

 waxen cells ; the two-winged flies, Voliicella and Conops, and 

 the larvfe of what is either an Anthomyia or Tachina-like fly, 

 and several species of another genus of flies. Anthrax, together 

 with several beetles, such as the Meloe (Fig. 16), Sty lops (Fig. 

 17, male; 18b, female; a, position in the body of its host), and 

 Antherophagus prey upon them. 



The power of boring the most symmetrical tunnels in solid 

 wood reaches its perfection in the large Virginian Carpenter bee 



17. Male Stylops. 



(Xylocopa Virginica, Fig. 19). This bee is as large as, and some 

 allied exotic species are often considerably larger than, the Hum- 

 ble b»e, but not clothed with such dense hairs. We have received 

 from Mr. James Angus, of West Farms, N. Y., a piece of trellis 

 from a grape vine, made of pine wood, containing the cells and 

 young in various stages of growth, together with the larvse and 

 chrysalids of Anthrax sinuosa (Fig. 20), a species of fly parasitic 

 on the larva. The maggot buries its head in the soft body of 

 the young bee and feeds on its juices. 



Mr. Angus thus writes us regarding its habits, under date of 

 July 19 : "I asked an intelligent and observing carpenter yes- 

 terday, if he knew how long it took the Xylocopa to bore her 

 tunnel. He said he thought she bored about one-quarter of an 



