The Ammophilae 



being liable to landslips on the slightest 

 provocation. Their perpendicular shaft, 

 which has to remain open until the cell 

 receives the provisions and an egg, requires a 

 firmer setting if it is not to be prematurely 

 blocked. What they want is a light soil, 

 easily tunnelled, in which the sandy element 

 is cemented with a little clay and lime. 

 Edges of paths, sunny banks where the grass 

 is rather bare: those are the favourite spots. 

 In spring, quite early in April, we see the 

 Hairy Ammophila {A. hirsiita) there; when 

 September and October come, we find the 

 Sandy Ammophila {A. sabulosa), the Sil- 

 very Ammophila {A. argentata) and the 

 Silky Ammophila {A. holosericea) . I will 

 here condense the information which I have 

 gathered from the four species. 



In the case of all four, the burrow is a 

 vertical shaft, a sort of well, possessing at 

 most the diameter of a thick goose-quill and 

 a depth of about two inches. At the bottom 

 is the cell, which is always solitary and con- 

 sists of a mere widening of the entrance- 

 shaft. It is, when all is said, a poor lodg- 

 ing, obtained economically, in one day's 

 work; the larva will find no protection there 

 against the winter except from the four wrap- 

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