POISON-FANG AND STILETTO 181 



the little parasites fall upon their host and 

 devour it ! 



The solitary bees are quite as interesting in 

 their ways as the solitary wasps, which they 

 resemble in their habits of constructing nests, 

 and storing them with provisions for their future 

 offspring. The food that the bees provide, how- 

 ever, is of a totally different nature; as throughout 

 their lives they are vegetarians. The perfect 

 insects feed entirely upon the nectar of flowers, 

 but the larvae, who require a more substantial 

 diet, are supplied by Mother Bee with a cake of 

 pollen mixed with honey. Some solitary bees 

 burrow in the ground after the manner of the 

 Sphegidae; some mine in wood, old walls, or 

 stems of plants; while others make nests of clay 

 and earth, and affix them to walls, stones, or 

 trees. 



The Mason Bee, Chalicodoma muraria, makes 

 a nest of gravel and small stones, which she 

 cements together into a hard mass with a kind of 

 mortar made of dry earth mixed with saliva. 

 The Chalicodoma (whose name signifies " stone 

 house ") starts her building operations about the 

 beginning of May, soon after she has emerged 

 from her cell as a perfect insect. She first 

 chooses a spot on a sunny wall, or a large stone 

 on the ground suits her admirably, and then flies 

 off to collect building materials. Having found 

 some nice dry earth she takes up a few grains in 

 her mandibles and works them up into a little 

 pellet of mortar with her saliva. This is firmly 

 fixed on the wall or stone by the industrious 

 little mason, to form the foundation of the nest, 



