The Leaf-cutters 



row; she cuts out of the foliage Irregular 

 pieces of different shapes and sizes and often 

 retaining their original deeply-indented mar- 

 gins; and with all these pieces, very few of 

 which fit at all closely the orifice to be 

 blocked, she succeeds in making an inviolable 

 door, thanks to the huge number of layers. 



Let us leave the Leaf-cutter to finish de- 

 positing her eggs in other galleries, which 

 will be colonized in the same manner, and 

 consider for a moment her skill as a cutter. 

 Her edifices consist of a multitude of frag- 

 ments belonging to three categories: oval 

 pieces for the sides of the cells; round pieces 

 for the lids; and irregular pieces for the bar- 

 ricades at the front and back. The last pre- 

 sent no difficulty: the Bee obtains them by 

 removing from the leaf some projecting por- 

 tion, as it stands, a serrate lobe which, owing 

 to its notches, shortens the insect's task and 

 lends itself better to scissor-work. So far, 

 there is nothing to deserve attention: it is 

 unskilled labour, in which an inexperienced 

 apprentice might excel. 



With the oval pieces, it becomes another 

 matter. What model has the Mcgachilc 

 when cutting her neat ellipses out of the deli- 



251 



