46 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



only cut out a very small portion at a time. The suc- 

 cessive portions which she gnaws off may be readily 

 ascertained by an observer, as she carries them away 

 from the place. In giving the history of a mason- 

 wasp (Odifierus), at page 25, we remarked the 

 care with which she carried to a distance little frag- 

 ments of brick, which she detached in the progress of 

 excavation. We have recently watched a precisely 

 similar procedure in the instance of a carpenter-bee 

 forming a cell in a wooden post.* The only difference 

 was, that the bee did not fly so far away with her frag- 

 ments of wood as the wasp did; but she varied the 

 direction of her flight every time: and we could ob- 

 serve, that after dropping the chip of wood which she 

 had carried off, she did not return in a direct line to 

 her nest, but made a circuit of some extent before 

 wheeling round to go back. 



On observing the proceedings of this carpenter-bee 

 next day, we found her coming in with balls of pollen 

 on her thighs; and on tracing her from the nest into 

 the adjacent garden, we saw her visiting every flower 

 which was likely to yield her a supply of pollen for 

 her future progeny. This was not all: we subse- 

 quently saw her taking the direction of the clay- 

 quarry frequented by the mason-bees, as we have 

 mentioned in page 35, where we recognized her 

 loading herself with a pellet of clay, and carrying it 

 into her cell in the wooden post. We observed her 

 alternating this labour for several days, at one time 

 carrying clay, and at another pollen; till at length 

 she completed her task, and closed the entrance with 

 a barricado of clay, to prevent the intrusion of any 

 insectivorous depredator, who might make prey of 

 her young; or of some prying parasite, who might 

 introduce its own eggs into the nest she had taken 

 so much trouble to construct. 



