upholsterer Bees. 



437 



Photo by] [H. Main, F.E.S. 



The Leaf-cutting Bee. 



One of the clever and industrious bees 

 that disfigure our rose-bushes by 

 cutting out oval and circular pieces 

 from the leaves, wherewith to line her 

 liurrows, and divide them int<i uurserv- 



(VUS. 



entonioloi^ist, whose glories (in a double sense) have lonij^ 

 departed. Tiltjate Forest, in Sussex, was also a strons^hold 

 of this motli, but it is by no means so plentiful as it was, 

 except in parts of Scotland and Worcestershire. The 

 female measures nearly three inches across the \\ings, 

 and the male about two inches and a (piarter. The 

 large, purplish - brown eggs are laid in double rows 

 along the twigs of birch. 



Upholsterer Bees. 



Some Insects exhibit a tendenc\' to luxur\' in their 

 surroundings. Many there are that finish off their cocoons 

 with a delicate, polished, silken lining so that the chrysalis 

 shall not 

 be in 



danger 

 of injury through any roughness 

 of the part that lies next to it ; 

 but a select few to which we pro- 

 pose to devote a small space, rely 

 not upon their own secretions for 

 this purpose, but import hangings 

 from without. Let us first, how- 

 ever, briefly refer to two or three 

 of the former class among bees. 

 Under the head of carpenter-bees 

 we have already mentioned sev'cral 

 species that bore into bramble- 

 stems and divide the burrow into 

 cells by building up partitions 

 across it. Tlie little solitary bees 

 of the genus j^rosopis, howe\'er, 

 that excavate their nests, some 

 species in the stems of brambles 

 and other ])lanls, and some in the 

 earth, form cells by lining the 

 burrow with a fluid secretion from 

 the mouth wliicli hardens into a 

 delit'ate tissue, not unlike gold- 

 ])eater's skin, but liner. There is 

 reason for the use of this material 

 in the fact that the provision for 

 the food ol llie future grub is more 

 licpiid than is usual in the case 

 of the solitary bees. This food 



Pholo by] [H. M,!in. F.I^.S. 



The Work ok the Le.\f-cutter. 



A rose-leaf, of which four leaflets have been cut by the bee. Sitting astride 

 the edge of the leaf, tlie portion desired is i ut through by her jaws, and when 

 completely severed she Hies olf with the piece to her burrow, where it is curved 

 and adapted to the form required. 



