CUCKOO SEES. 



369 



burrows, either in the ground or in decaying trees, and line them neatly with the portions of leaves 

 so arranged as to separate the different cells, which roughly resemble so many thimbles placed one 

 within the other. The commonest British species (Jfegachile centuncnlaris) is very widely distributed, 

 being spread apparently over nearly the whole northern part of the globe. An allied species, the 

 Poppy Bee, the Upholsterer Bee of Reaumur (Anthocopa papaveris), is remarkable for choosing the 

 petals of the common poppy as the material for lining her nest. 



As in the case of the Humble Bees, there is a contrast to this picture of industry. Several genera 

 of true Apidee do not take the trouble of preparing or storing any cells for their young, but foist their 

 progeny upon their more industrious relatives. These Cuckoo Bees, as they have appropriately been 

 called, may be distin- 

 guished by their want of 

 any apparatus for col- 

 lecting pollen, either in 

 the form of dilated hind 

 legs furnished with, 

 bristles, or in. that of a 

 thick coat of hairs on 

 the lower surface of the 

 abdomen. The best- 

 known of these parasites 

 are the species of the 

 genus Nomada slender, 

 smooth, shiny insects, 

 more like Wasps than 

 Bees, and generally 

 adorned with bands of 

 yellow and black, or red. 

 These gaily-coloured in- 

 sects may be observed 

 flying about the sunny 

 banks in which other 

 Bees delight to form 

 their nests. They make 

 their way into the nests D 

 in the absence of the 

 rightful owners, and 

 deposit their own eggs 

 upon the masses of food 

 stored up for the in- 

 tended occupant. It 

 seems probable that the 

 nest-making Bee, finding 



on her return that an egg has been laid, takes it for granted that it is one she has deposited, and 

 forgotten, and so closes up the cell ; but Mr. F. Smith was of opinion that the Nomada themselves 

 might perform the latter operation, as he tad occasionally observed these parasitic Bees with small 

 masses of clay attached to their hind legs. 



The second principal group, or sub-family, of Bees, called Aiulrenidce, from the name of the 

 principal genus, includes no social species. As already stated, the tongue in these Bees is short and 

 broad, and the labial palpi consist of four nearly equal joints, like those of the maxillary palpi. 



The true Andrence, of which a large number of species inhabit Great Britain, are all bur- 

 rowers in the ground, sometimes in banks of light sandy earth, sometimes in firm soil, and even in 

 hard-trodden pathways. Their burrows run to a depth of several inches, and terminate usually in 

 a single oval cell, but occasionally the Bee makes branching tunnels, so that a single entrance passage 

 237 



MASON BEE. 

 A, Male in flight ; B, Female working at Nest ; c, Female in front ; D, Completed Nest. 



