18 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



there to await the changes which time will in- 

 evitably bring about. 



Let us speak now of eggs carefully de- 

 posited by other insects in galleries and excava- 

 tions made into timber. The insects which thus 

 act have been called by the fanciful title of car- 

 penter-bees, in allusion to the drilling process 

 by which they penetrate the wood. A highly 

 interesting spectacle it is, in truth, to see one 

 of these pigmy carpenters at her work, and, for- 

 tunately, some of the species are not very un- 

 common in our gardens. Spring is the season 

 when she commences her labours. She recon- 

 noitres about for a proper piece of timber for some 

 time, and exhibits great discrimination in the 

 selection of a suitable place for establishing herself 

 and for the nurture of her progeny. Strange to 

 say, she will not select living wood, such as the 

 trunk of a tree, but generally prefers wood which 

 has already begun to decay, as if fully aware that 

 such wood was likely to give her much less 

 trouble in boring than any other. She also selects 

 a piece of wood placed in some sunny and genial 

 position, with a view to the development and 

 comfort of her progeny. This important point 



