The Osmiae 



builds her partitions and finally closes the en- 

 trance to the dwelling. When she settles in 

 the spacious cells of the Masked Anthophora 

 {Anthophora personata, Illig.), the entrance 

 to the gallery, which is wide enough to admit 

 one's finger, is closed with a voluminous plug 

 of this vegetable paste. On the earthy banks, 

 hardened by the sun, the home is then be- 

 trayed by the gaudy colour of the lid. It is 

 as though the authorities had closed the door 

 and affixed to it their great seals of green wax. 



So far then as their building-materials are 

 concerned, the Osmiae whom I have been 

 able to observe are divided into two classes: 

 one building compartments with mud, the 

 other with a green-tinted vegetable putty. 

 The first section includes the Horned Osmia 

 and the Three-horned Osmia, both so remark- 

 able for the horny tubercles on their faces. 



The great reed of the south, the Arundo 

 donax, is often used, in the country, for rough 

 garden-shelters against the mistral or just for 

 fences. These reeds, the ends of which are 

 chopped off to make them all the same length, 

 are planted perpendicularly in the earth. I 

 have often explored them in the hope of find- 

 ing Osmia-ncsts. My search has very seldom 



55 



