The Mason- Wasps 



they make an excellent loam, which is far 

 less liable to go to pieces than unmixed clay 

 would be. The efficacy of this ingenious 

 stucco is evident. After some months of 

 exposure to the inclemencies of the weather, 

 the Osmia's door, made of earth only, is 

 very much dilapidated, whereas the Ody- 

 nerus' door, covered on the outside with a 

 layer of fibrous composition, remains intact. 

 Let us credit the Odynerus with inventing 

 and patenting the loam covering and pro- 

 ceed. 



After the nest, the victuals. One sort of 

 game alone is served to the Odynerus' fam- 

 ily: this is the larva of the Poplar Leaf- 

 beetle (Chrysomela populi, Lina p.), a 

 larva which, in company with the adult in- 

 sect, ravages the poplar-leaves at the end 

 of spring. Consulted merely by our taste, 

 the Odynerus' game is anything but enticing 

 in shape and still less in smell. It is a 

 plump, thickset grub, with a bare, flesh- 

 white skin covered with several lines of 

 glossy black dots. The abdomen, in par- 

 ticular, has thirteen rows of these black 

 spots, namely, four on the top, three on 

 each side and three underneath. The four 

 dorsal rows vary in structure : the two in the 

 middle consist of plain black specks; those 

 192 



