The Mason-bees 



Parnopes carnea by name, boldly enters the 

 burrow of Bembex rostrata at the very mo- 

 ment when the mother Is at home, bringing 

 a fresh piece of game to her larva, whom she 

 feeds from day to day. To the elegant crim- 

 inal, unskilled in navvy's work, this is the one 

 moment to find the door open. If the mother 

 were away, the house would be shut up; and 

 the Golden Wasp, that sneak-thief in royal 

 robes, could not get in. She enters, therefore, 

 dwarf as she is, the house of the giantess 

 whose ruin she is meditating; she makes her 

 way right to the back, all heedless of the 

 Bembex, her sting and her powerful jaws. 

 What cares she that the home is not deserted? 

 Either unmindful of the danger or paralyzed 

 with terror, the Bembex mother lets her have 

 her way. 



The unconcern of the invaded is equalled 

 only by the boldness of the invader. Have 

 I not seen the Anthophora-bee, at the door to 

 her dwelling, stand a little to one side and 

 make room for the Melecta to enter the 

 honey-stocked cells and substitute her family 

 for the unhappy parent's? One would think 

 that they were two friends meeting on the 

 threshold, one going in, the other out! 

 194 



