444 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



then bores another tube, and repeats the process until her egg-supply is exhausted. 

 \Mien the grub has consumed its food-store, it spins a lustrous silken cocoon 

 attached to the hangings of its cell, and undergoes the changes into the chrysalis 

 and perfect bee. 



Our other native species proceed in a similar manner, though some of them 

 work in different materials. Thus, one ^ makes her excavations in the ground of 

 banks, but lines them with rose-leaves ; another- mines in sand, and sometimes 

 uses the leaves of bird's-foot trefoil for her upholstery ; a third,^ like Willughbv's 

 leaf-cutter, makes hers in wood; a fourth"^ has been found nesting in the stumps 



of the broom. The common species, 

 again, has sometimes been found to 

 use the petals of the garden geranium, 

 in which she appears to come close to 

 the poppv upholsterer,^ which lines 

 her cells with the scarlet petals of the 

 corn poppy. This bee is usually found 

 in the neighbourhood of cornfields, 

 and sinks her shafts in the firm earth 

 of roads and well-trodden footpaths. 

 Cutting semicircular pieces from the 

 bright-red petals of the poppy, she 

 uses them in much the same manner 

 as the common species does with her 

 rose-leaves, but instead of cutting 

 small circles for capping the cells, she 

 simply turns over the upper edges of 

 the lining pieces to effect the closure. 

 Another species,^ with labour- 

 saving inclinations, usually appro- 

 priates a burrow of the earth^^■orm, 

 and as this is far too long for her 

 purpose, she stops it at the proper 

 depth with a plug of leaves, on which 

 she builds up her cells. This labour- 

 saving idea is appreciated by \-arious 

 species, who are not slow to avail 

 themselves of any previously existing 

 cylindrical hole of the right size for their nesting place. Bamboos used for the 

 support of tall plants in gardens are frequently adapted to their purpose ; screw- 

 holes, pipes of small bore, and gun-barrels also come in hand\- to some individuals. 



Photo by'] [J. J. Wurd, F.E.S. 



Buff Ermine-Caterpill.\rs. 



One of the' smaller" woolly bears " that may be seen frequently in late 

 summer or early autumn, hurrying across paths. It is a destroyer of 

 many low weeds. Natural size. 



Ermine-Moths. 



Included in the same family" with the tiger-moths are several white or cream- 

 coloured species that are common by waysides and in gardens. From the fact 

 that they are more or less spotted with black on their downy wings and bodies 



1 Megachile circumcincta. - M. argcntata. ^ ^i ijgncseca. ' M. vcrsicoU)r. '^ Osmia jiapavcri.s. 



" MeRachilc albocincta. ' Arctiida\ 



