The Ageniae 



Pelopaeus. This sheker is found in all 

 manner of places, excepting our houses, 

 where the frail potter very rarely takes 

 refuge. A tiny cavity under the stump of 

 a tree; a hole in some wall or other, exposed 

 to the sun; an old Snail-shcU under a heap 

 of stones; a Capricorn's disused burrow 

 bored in the oak; an Anthophora's ^ de- 

 serted dwelling; a fat Earth-worm's mine- 

 shaft opening on a dry bank; the hole 

 whence the Cicada^ has emerged: anything, 

 in short, suits her, provided that the ac- 

 commodation be sheltered from the rain. 

 Once only did Agenia punctuin, who is more 

 frequent than the other, pay me a visit. 

 She had established her collection of pots 

 in some little paper bags lying on the 

 shelves of a green-house and intended to 

 hold seeds. This nest-building on a sheet 

 of paper reminded me of the Pelopaeus con- 

 fiding her cells to the books in a distillery 

 or the curtains of a window. Indifferent 

 to the nature of the support for their nests, 

 both potters sometimes choose very curious 

 sites. 



1 For the various species of Burrowing Bees known 

 as the Anthophorae, cf. Bramble-bee and others: chap. vii. 

 et passim. — Translator's Note. 



- For the Cicada, or Cigale, cf. The Life of the Grass- 

 hopper, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander 

 Teixeira de Mattes: chaps, i. to v. — Translator's Note. 

 89 



