REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 45 



populous cities, which in April and May present an unparalleled scene of anima- 

 tion, are deserted by the end of June. The little mole heaps are scattered, and 

 the galleries have fallen in. What is the fate of the mother herself? Having 

 accomplished the great task of assuring her posterity, there is no further work for 

 her in her future barren existence. Child of the light and the sun, she still idles 

 away a few days, pilfering the sweets of the flowers in the neighbourhood. Up 

 to the last she is drunk with nectar, and when the beatings of her tiny heart are 

 about to cease, when the first spasms of death seize upon her, she can find no 

 better place to die than the petals of an open corolla. There we may find her 

 huddled together in the agony of death, and like the girl who mourns for Mal- 

 herbe, we may apply to her the lines of the poet, 



" elle a vecu ce que vivent les roses, 



" I'espace d'un matin. 



Note — Those wishing to study the habits of other species of Colletes, may 

 read the following works with profit. 



Mayet: Moeurs du Colletes succinctus. Ann. Soc. Ent. France 1875. 



Smith: On some digger bees (C. compacta), Journ. New York Ent. Soc, 

 Vol. IX, 1901. 



Friese: Beitraege zur Biologic der soltitaeren, Blumenwespen, Jena, 1891. 



Rudlow: Die Wohnungen der Hautflugler Europas, etc. Berl. Ent. Zeitschr. 

 XLVI, 1901. 



