288 INSECT LIFE 



XX 



If Chalicodoma sicula works alone, as she often 

 does, on the shutter of an unused window or on a 

 stone or a branch, she behaves in just the same way. 

 For instance, if the nest is on a bough, she begins by 

 solidly fixing the basis of her cell on the slender 

 twig. Then the building rises into a little vertical 

 tower. This cell being stored and ceiled, another 

 follows, supported both by the bough and the first 

 cell, until six to ten cells are grouped one beside the 

 other, and finally a general cover of mortar encloses 

 them all together with the bough, which gives them 

 a firm foundation. 



