440 HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 



lour as the sand, and to a casual observer more resem- 

 bling a splash of mud than an artificial structure. These 

 bees sometimes are more economical of their labour, 

 and repair old nests, for the possession of which they 

 have very desperate combats. One would have sup- 

 posed that the inhabitants of a castle so fortified might 

 defy the attacks of every insect marauder. Yet an Ich- 

 neumon and a beetle (Clerus apiarius) both contrive to 

 introduce their eggs into the cells, and the larvae pro- 

 ceeding from them devour their inhabitants a . 



Other bees of the same family with that last described, 

 use different materials in the construction of their nests. 

 Some employ fine earth made into a kind of mortar with 

 gluten. Another (Osmia b ccerulescens\ as we learn from 

 De Geer, forms its nest of argillaceous earth mixed with 

 chalk, upon stone walls, and sometimes probably nidifi- 

 cates in chalk-pits. O. btcornis selects the hollows of 

 large stones for the site of its dwelling; while others 

 prefer the holes in wood. 



The works thus far described require in general less 

 genius than labour and patience : but it is far otherwise 

 with the nests of the last tribe of artificers amongst wild 

 bees, to which I shall advert the hangers of tapestry, 

 or upholsterers those which line the holes excavated 

 in the earth for the reception of their young, with an ele- 

 gant coating of flowers or of leaves. Amongst the most 

 interesting of these is Megachile* Papaveris y a species 

 whose manners have been admirably described by Reau- 

 mur. This little bee, as though fascinated with the 

 colour most attractive to our eyes, invariably chooses 



a Reaum. vi. 57-88. Mon. Ap. Angl. i. 179. 



b Apis**, c. 2. 8. K. c Apis**, c. 2. *. K, 



