484 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Large carpenter bee 



Xylocopa I'lroinua 1 )rury 



Burrows about ' _• an inc h Idiit; may occasionally be observed in telegraph poles, 

 d(>nri)()sts and similar places, and laru;e-l)odied, dusky winged bees seen going in and out. 



This common insect is somctimc-s very ]jersistent in its efforts to tim- 

 nel posts or timljers about iioiiscs. It is al)out tlie size, and has tlie 

 general apjiearance of a humf)lebee. Ihe ahdomen, hovve\'er, is jet-black 

 and frequently somewhat bare. The tunnels are excavated in solid wood, 

 sometimes to a distance of a foot and are usetl as nesting places. A unique 

 example of this insect's work together with the bee is represented at plate 

 39, figure 3. This shows the outside appearance of a 5'g inch board, from 

 a weatherworn building, and near the to]j a small entrance hole 3x inch in 

 diameter. The board has been split and the inner aspect with the three 

 long nearU' parallel ', inch burrows, split when the board was sawed in two, 

 is re|)restMited in the foreground. The slight enlargements seen along the 

 course of the galleries indicate the location of inilividual cells. These are 

 separateil trom each other when tilled by chi|js of wood securely cemented 

 together. ihe nature of the j)artition is easily seen from below. The 

 cells are |)rovisioned with a paste ot jjollen or nectar, and wlu-n the young 

 insects mature, those in the lower chambers are obliged to await the exit 

 of the bees in the u[)per cells. 



INHABITANTS OF l)KrAYIN<; WOOlt OK KEISIDENTS UNDER DEAIJ OK DECAYING BARK 



A considerable number (d s|)ecies occur in such places. Thev are of 

 comparati\'e!\' slight economic importance, \'el should \>v characterized 

 because of the liability of their being mistaken for more destructive species, 

 and to aid in this identihcation the following brief accounts of some of the 

 more coinmon species are given. 



