( xxxii ) 



initials— Mr. Morice (F. D. M.), Dr. Perkins (E. C. L. P.) 

 and Mr. Ha mm (A. H. H.). The numerous fine observations 

 of Ferton were very kindly obtained by Mr. Morice from the 

 " Actes de la Societ. Linneenne de Bordeaux," 1891, 1893, 

 1894, 1896 and 1897, and the " Ann. Soc. Ent. France," 1901 

 and 1908. Hence the date, accompanying each of Ferton's 

 records, gave the reference to the original publication. 



Species of Osmia which are known to nidificate in empty shells. 



1. Osmia andrenoides, Spinola (Algeciras, near Gibraltar : 

 Apr., 1905). " Very common in Central Europe and Mediter- 

 ranean districts. F. D. M." Shell-using instinct on the 

 authority of Fabre, and also of Ferton who (1894) has found 

 the species in a Helix of the group of pisana, and states 

 (1908) that it utilises small species of Ci/clostoma and 

 Helix. 



2. Osmia aurulenta, Panz. (Eleusis, near Athens : May 1, 

 1912). One of the commonest British species having the 

 instinct. Recorded in 1844 by F. Smith under the synonym 

 of tunensis, Kirby (" Zoologist," vol. ii, 1844, p. 405). Smith 

 here quotes Mr. Walcott of Clifton, Bristol, for Osmia bicolor 

 and tunensis breeding in empty snail-shells on the downs, and 

 also states that Mr. Curtis had captured 0. bicolor in snail- 

 shells. On p. 609 he adds that the shells were Helix nemoralis 

 and aspersa, and states that O. tunensis also excavates burrows 

 in old posts. 



Ferton (1893) has seen this species, "so faithful to the shells 

 of the genus Helix, abandon them for a fossil Paludina in a 

 better situation." 



" I have only found it in snail-shells and on the Devonshire 

 coast at Slapton in the large shells of the whelk ! The shells 

 were on the beach, and sometimes not properly clean ! The 

 whelk-shells used by aurulenta were fully exposed to sun and 

 rain after the cells were completed. When I saw the bee 

 using snail-shells, on the other hand, the shells used were at 

 the roots of the thick vegetation forming a dense hedge-row ! 

 R. C. L. P." 



This nesting in whelk-shells is recorded in Saunders' book 

 on BignelPs authority, but it was Dr. Perkins who gave 



