The Resin-bees 



alone, preceded by a notch which is pretty 

 clearly marked In some species, forms a real 

 tooth; but this tooth is bhmt and does not 

 project. The mandible, in short, is a kind of 

 spoon perfectly fitted to remove the sticky 

 matter and to shape it into a ball." 



Nothing better could be said to explain the 

 two sorts of industry: in the one case, a rake 

 which gathers the wool; in the other, a spoon 

 which scoops up the resin. I should have left 

 it at that and felt quite content without 

 further investigation, if I had not had the 

 curiosity to open my boxes and, in my turn, 

 to take a good look, side by side, at the work- 

 ers in cement and the workers in cotton. Al- 

 low me, my learned master, to whisper in your 

 ear what I saw. 



The first that I examine is Autludium sep- 

 tejndcntatum. A spoon: yes, it is just that. 

 Powerful mandibles, shaped like an isosceles 

 triangle, flat above, hollowed out below; and 

 no indentations, none whatsoever. A splen- 

 did tool, as you say, for gathering the viscous 

 pellet; quite as efficacious in its kind of work 

 as is the rake of the toothed mandibles for 

 gathering cotton. Here certainly Is a crea- 



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