54 LEAF-CUTTING BEES 



soft willow, almost in a touchwood condition. So 

 that by carefully cutting away the wood I have 

 been able to expose the whole series of cells. 

 Two distinct burrows run almost parallel to each 

 other ; both of them are slightly curved and each 

 has contained six cells ; these are about half an 

 inch long, and they fit one over another in the tube 

 as closely as possible so as to look like two long 

 thick green worms. Each cell is composed of 

 many pieces of leaf, and the final plug which 

 closes the cell is often made of several rounds of 

 leaf one over the other. The amount of labour 

 taken by the mother bee to make these cells 

 must be enormous. The cells are provisioned like 

 those of any other solitary bee with pollen, etc., 

 and the egg is laid upon it. Most of the leaf- 

 cutters have their attendant cuckoos, which 

 are rather smaller than themselves, of a deep 

 black with white bands on the sides of the body. 

 The female has a very pointed tail, and the male's 

 body ends in a series of spine-like projections 

 (pi. C, 21, 22). 



