The Great Cerceris 21 



polish their antennae and wings under the 

 natural eaves that most frequently protect their 

 dwelling ; or else they remain motionless at 

 the mouth of the hole, merely showing their 

 wide, square faces, striped black and yellow. 

 Others, lastly, flit gravely humming on the 

 neighbouring kermes- oak -bushes, where the 

 males, always on the watch near the burrows in 

 course of construction, are not slow to join them. 

 Couples form, often disturbed by the arrival 

 of a second male, who strives to supplant 

 the happy possessor. The humming becomes 

 threatening, brawls take place and often the 

 two males roll in the dust until one of them 

 acknowledges the superiority of his rival. Near 

 by, the female awaits the outcome of the 

 struggle with indifference ; she finally accepts 

 the male whom the chances of the contest 

 bestow upon her ; and the couple fly out of 

 sight in search of peace and quiet on some 

 distant brushwood. Here the part played by 

 the males ends. Only half the size of the 

 females and nearly as numerous, they prowl 

 all around the burrows, but never enter and 

 never take part in the laborious mining opera- 

 tions nor in the perhaps even more difficult 

 hunting expeditions by means of which the cells 

 are to be stocked. 



The galleries are ready in a few days, espe- 



