THE CARPEKTER BEE. 



25 



23. Larva of Ceratina. 



male ; or if a female, living througli the winter. Her life thus 



spans one year. 



The larva (Fig. 2^) is longer than that qf Megachile, and com- 



p'ared with that of Xylocopa, the different segments are much 



more convex, giving a serrate outline 



to the bade of the Avorm. The pupa, 



or chrysalis, we have found in the 



cells the last of July. It is white, 



and tliree-tenths of an inch long. It 



differs from that of the Leaf-cutter bee in having four spines on 



the end of the bodj^ 

 In none of the wild bees are the cells constructed with more 



nicety than those of our little Ceratina. She bores out with 



her jaws a long deep well just the size of her body, and then 

 gtretches a thin, delicate cloth of silk 

 drawn tight as a drum-head across each 

 end of her chambers, which she then Alls 

 with a mixture of pollen and honey. 



25. Tailor Bee. 

 Her young are not, in this supposed 

 retreat, entirely free from danger. The 

 most invidious foes enter and attack the 

 brood. Three species of Ichneumon flies, 

 24. Nest of Taiftr Bee. ^wo of which belong to the Chalcid fam- 

 ily, lay their eggs within the body of the larva, and emerge 

 from the dried larva and pupa skins of the bee, often in great 

 numbers. The smallest parasite, belonging to the genus Autho- 

 phorabia, so called from being first known as a parasite on 

 another bee (Anthophora), is a minute species found also abun- 

 dantly in the tight cells of the Leaf-cutter bee. 

 3 



