268 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



FIG. 426. A common 



short-tongued bee (An- 



drena sp.). (Slightly 



enlarged) 



None of the short-tongued bees live in colonies, and many of 



them make their nests in the ground, which has given them the 

 name of "mining bees." Their tunnels are 

 usually branched, each branch terminating in 

 a single cell, which is lined with a sort of 

 glazing. After this cell is filled with nectar 

 and pollen, the egg is laid and the cell is then 

 sealed up. Quite commonly, large numbers 

 of these tunnels will be found near together, 

 forming large villages. Some of the smaller 



forms mine into the sides of sand banks and 



cliffs, their numerous holes making the surface 



appear as if it had received a charge from a 



shotgun. These little females of the genus 



Halictus have the interesting habit of making 



a common burrow into a bank and then each 



making a side passage to her own cells, so v * r - bo m + 



(Slightly enlarged) 



that, as Professor Comstock aptly remarks, 



"While Andrena builds villages composed of individual homes, 



Halictus makes cities composed of apartment houses." 



FIG. 427. A mining- 

 bee (Halictus lerouxii 



ftf 



FIG. 428. The leaf-cutter bee and a leaf-covered cell removed from its burrow. 



(Natural size) 



(After Linville and Kelly) 



