54 Insect Architecture. 



scarcely exceeding the sixth of an inch in length. The head 

 and thorax are a dark green, the abdomen is white, and the 

 legs are covered with silvery hairs. It is a plentiful insect, 

 and is found haunting the holes of old walls. 



Passing to another family of British mining-bees, we come 

 to one species that is remarkable not only for its form, but 

 for its economy. This is the Eucera longicornis, the only 

 known species that inhabits England. In form it is chiefly 

 remarkable from the fact that the antennae of the male are as 

 long as the entire body. The pupa of this insect is enclosed 

 in a thin membrane, and when the male insect is about to 

 emerge from its pupal shell, it has recourse to a rather 

 curious expedient. At the base of the first joint of the front 

 feet there is a bold notch. When the insect wishes to 

 remove the thin membranous pellicle which envelopes the 

 antennae, it lays these organs in the notch, draws them 

 through, and thus easily strips off the pellicle. The antennas 

 are most beautifully formed, the surface of each joint being 

 marked with an elaborate pattern like network, so that they 

 form beautiful objects for the microscope. 



The soil preferred by the Eucera is of a clayey nature. 

 When it has completed the burrow, it presses the soil at the 

 extremity with all its might, and smooths it so carefully 

 that the burrow becomes capable of holding honey without 

 needing any lining. The insect is generally found about the 

 end of May or beginning of June, and in some places is 

 found in great numbers. The ground colour of the insect is 

 black, but the body is covered with a coating of short dun 

 hairs. The length rather exceeds half an inch.] 



