62 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Voi. ix. 



low the latter as shown in Fig. 22, Plate IV. In such cases these 

 surrounding spaces could never be made over into brood cells and of 

 course the work was ended. 



So far as my dissection of the bees could tell us there had been no 

 egg-laying up to May 28th. Incidentally this examination developed 

 uniformly, an empty alimentary tract. Apparently these insects do 

 not feed at all after they have once begun digging and until they be- 

 gin to store the cells. The mouth parts themselves are small, except 

 for the mandibles which are shown at Fig. 10, Plate IV. The max- 

 illa is reduced to a single-jointed, scoop-shaped galea, below which is 

 attached a well-developed, 6-jointed palpus. The tip of this maxillary 

 structure and the appearance of the palpus, is shown at Fig. 13, 

 Plate III. The labium is slender and has at the tip a small pointed 

 ligula or tongue set with rather long, fine hair along transverse ridg- 

 ings or markings. The paragloss^e are small, membraneous lateral 

 processes which do not reach the middle of the ligula and seem to be 

 scarcely functional. The labial palpi are also small, four-jointed, the 

 segments decreasing in size toward the tip and not set with sensory 

 structures save a few, irregularly placed, pitted hairs. This structure 

 is shown at Fig. 12, Plate III. 



June 2d, clay-lined cells were found for the first time and now in 

 some cases the reduced number of cell casts pointed to capped cells. 

 But none of these were observed and it is perhaps a question whether 

 some other causes did not interfere with the perfection of the casts. 



June 4th and 5th I spent at Lahaway in the bee mines, for there were 

 now two of them operated by Mr. Brakeley. No loaded cells were 

 found, though quite a number were now clay-lined, apparently ready 

 for stocking. Very few bees were observed on the wing and none of 

 these were pollen-laden. Search among the flowers in the vicinity 

 failed to show even a single Augochlora humeralis. Thousands of the 

 insects about, yet not one feeding and not one to be obtained by 

 ordinary collecting. 



June 7th, pollen-carrying was in full swing and the bees were as 

 active as they had been at digging shortly before. June loth they 

 were still hard at work, and now the direct opening to the perpen- 

 dicular was in constant use, as often open as closed. Yet invariably, as 

 soon as a pollen-laden bee entered her burrow, she reappeared in a 

 few moments with a load of clay and closed the door. No attempt 

 to close was made by the bee on leaving home though, theoretically, 



