Bramble-bees and Others 



delicate skin of the larvae needs a well-padded 

 cradle; and the mother collects the softest 

 materials that the cottony plants provide. 

 Rivalling the bird, which furnishes the inside 

 of the nest with wool and strengthens the out- 

 side with sticks, she reserves for the grubs' 

 mattress the finest down, so hard to find and 

 collected with such patience. But, when it 

 becomes a matter of shutting the door against 

 the foe, then the entrance bristles with for- 

 bidding caltrops, with stiff, prickly hairs. 



This ingenious system of defence is not the 

 only one known to the Anthidia. More dis- 

 trustful still, the Manicate Anthidium leaves no 

 space in the front part of the reed. Immedi- 

 ately after the column of cells, she heaps up, 

 in the uninhabited vestibule, a conglomeration 

 of rubbish, whatever chance may offer in the 

 neighbourhood of the nest: little pieces of 

 gravel, bits of earth, grains of sawdust, parti- 

 cles of mortar, cypress-catkins, broken leaves, 

 dry Snail-droppings and any other material 

 that comes her way. The pile, a real barri- 

 cade this time, blocks the reed completely to 

 the end, except about two centimetres^ left 

 for the final cotton plug. Certainly, no foe 



^About three-quarters of an inch. — Translator's Note. 



284 



