60 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



from six to ten inches deep, and does not throw the 

 earth dug out from it into a heap, Kke the an- 

 drenae.* In this she constructs several cells about an 

 inch in length, shaped like a thimble, and made of 

 cuttings of leaves (not petals), neatly folded together, 

 the bottom of one thimble-shaped cell being inserted 

 into the mouth of the one below it, and so on in suc- 

 cession. 



It is interesting to observe the manner in which 

 this bee procures the materials for forming the tapes- 

 try of her cells. The leaf of the rose-tree seems to 

 be that which she prefers, though she sometimes 

 takes other sorts of leaves, particularly those with ser- 

 rated margins, such as the birch, the perennial mer- 

 cury {Mercu7'iaUs perennis), mountain ash, &c. She 

 places herself upon the outer edge of the leaf which 

 she has selected, so that its margin may pass between 

 her legs. Turning her head towards the point, she 

 commences near the footstalk, and with her mandi- 

 bles cuts out a circular piece with as much expedi- 

 tion as we could do with a j)air of scissors, and with 

 more accuracy and neatness than could easily be done 

 by us. As she proceeds, she keeps the cut portion be- 

 tween her legs so as not to impede her progress; and 

 using her body for a trammel, as a carpenter would 

 say, she cuts in a regular curved line. As she sup- 

 ports herself during the operation upon the portion 

 of the leaf which she is detaching, it must be ob- 

 vious, when it is nearly cut off, that the weight of 

 her body might tear it away, so as to injure the accu- 

 racy of its curvihneal shape. To prevent any acci- 

 dent of this kind, as soon as she suspects that her 

 weight might tear it, she poises herself on her wings, 

 till she has completed the incision. It has been 

 said, by naturalists, that this manoeuvre of poising 



* See p. 43. 



