Bramble-bees and Others 



with the scissors and, without more ado, the 

 Megachile retires the richer by a first-rate bit 

 of material. 



Split up into their component parts, two 

 cells give me altogether eighty-three pieces of 

 leaves, whereof eighteen are smaller than the 

 others and of a round shape. The last- 

 named come from the lids. If they average 

 forty-two each, the seventeen cells of the nest 

 represent seven hundred and fourteen pieces. 

 These are not all : the nest ends, in the Capri- 

 corn's vestibule, with a stout barricade in 

 which I count three hundred and fifty pieces. 

 The total therefore amounts to one thousand 

 and sixty-four. All those journeys and all that 

 work with the scissors to furnish the deserted 

 chamber of the Cerambyx ! If I did not know 

 the Leaf-cutter's solitary and jealous disposi- 

 tion, I should attribute the huge structure to 

 the collaboration of several mothers; but 

 there is no question of communism In this 

 case. One dauntless creature and one alone, 

 one solitary, inveterate worker, has produced 

 the whole of the prodigious mass. If work 

 Is the best way to enjoy life, this one certainly 

 has not been bored during the few weeks of 

 her existence. 



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