^06 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



ing to their habits. We observed the nest of a 

 mason bee which was made up of ten cells. Two 

 cells had nothing in them at all. The others had 

 larvae or pupae. The cells are made of little pellets 

 of mud which are beautifully welded together to 

 form a firm little home. The cells are not so strong 

 as those of many mud-dauber or mason wasps, but 

 they are firm. On examining the cells with young 

 larvae present, we found at one end of the cell a 

 supply of "bee-bread," honey and pollen mixed to 

 form a paste. With a lens we could see the masses 

 of white pollen on the yellowish honey. On ex- 

 amining the pollen microscopically we found it 

 to be that of some myrtaceous plant such as 

 Eucalyptus, or bottle-brush (Callistemon) or Lepto- 

 spermum. Larvae could be seen in all stages 



of growth in the different cells. There v/ere three 

 pupae, and from one of these hatched a ruby-wasp 

 (a parasite). In one cell we found two larvae, 

 a large yellow one similar to the bee larvae of most 

 of the cells, and a smaller paler grub which was 

 that of a ruby-wasp which was feeding on the 

 larva of the mason-bee. In another cell v/e found 

 the pupa of a ruby-wasp in its cocoon, and at the 

 base of the pupal cell could be seen the waste 

 material shut out, consisting of a moult skin and ex- 

 cretion. (Plate i6, Fig. ii.) On several of the 

 larvae we found a mite, a tiny little creature, just 

 able to be seen with the naked eye — it was of simi- 

 lar colour to the larva and was parasitic on it. 

 There were other little cream insects, very active, 

 crawling all over the cell and they were probably 



