The Odyneri 



dreams? Either the Eumenes have lied to 

 me or my hopes are justified. As a disciple 

 rebelling against his masters, a disciple 

 strong in arguments which I believed in- 

 vincible, I set to worlc investigating, con- 

 vinced that I should succeed. And I did 

 succeed; I found what I was looking for; 

 I found something better still. Let me set 

 things down in detail. 



There are various Odyneri established in 

 my neighbourhood. I know one who takes 

 possession of the abandoned nests of Eu- 

 menes Amadei. This nest, a structure of un- 

 usual solidity, is not a ruin when its owner 

 moves away; it loses only its neck. The cu- 

 pola, preserved untouched, is a fortified re- 

 treat of too convenient a nature to remain va- 

 cant. Some Spider adopts the cavern, after 

 lining it with silk; Osmiae ^ take refuge in it 

 in rainy weather, or else make it their 

 dormitory, wherein to spend the night; an 

 Odynerus divides it, by means of clay par- 

 titions, into three or four chambers, which 

 become the cradles of as many larvae. A 

 second species uses the deserted nests of the 

 Pelopaeus;^ a third, removing the pith from 



1 Cf. Bramble-bees and Others: chaps, i. to vii. — Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



- Cf. Chapter III. of the present volume. — Translator's 

 Note. 



31 



