THE HALICTI 215 



colony is at its height, two categories of Halicti are easily 

 distinguishable : the young mothers and the old. The 

 former, much more numerous, brisk of movement and 

 smartly arrayed, come and go unceasingly from the 

 burrows to the fields and from the fields to the burrows. 

 The latter, faded and dispirited, wander idly from hole to 

 hole. They look as though they had lost their way and 

 were incapable of finding their homes. Who are these 

 vagabonds ? I see afflicted ones bereft of a family 

 through the act of the odious spring Gnat. Many 

 burrows have gone under altogether. At the awakening 

 of summer, the mother found herself alone. She left her 

 empty house and set off in search of a dwelling where 

 there were cradles to defend, a guard to mount. But 

 those fortunate nests already have their overseer, the 

 foundress, who, jealous of her rights, gives her unemployed 

 neighbour a cold reception. One sentry is enough ; two 

 would simply block the narrow guard-room. 



I am privileged at times to witness a fight between two 

 grandmothers. When the tramp in quest of employment 

 appears outside the door, the lawful occupant does not 

 move from her post, does not withdraw into the passage, 

 as she would before an Halictus returning from the fields. 

 Far from making way, she threatens with her feet and 

 mandibles. The other hits back, tries to enter notwith- 

 standing. Cuffs are exchanged. The fray ends by the 

 defeat of the stranger, who goes off to pick a quarrel 

 elsewhere. 



These little scenes afford us a glimpse of certain details 

 of the highest interest in the manners of Halictus Zebrus. 

 The mother who builds her nest in the spring no longer 

 leaves her home, once her works are finished. Shut up 

 at the bottom of the burrow, busied with the minute cares 



