ro8 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



did she not take the precaution of balancing on her wings for a 

 few moments before making the last cut. As soon as the por- 

 tion of leaf is severed, she flies away with it to her burrow, and 

 then arranges it after a truly curious fashion. 



Bending each leaf into a curved form, she presses them suc- 

 cessively into the burrow, in such a manner that they fit into 

 one another, and form a small thimble-shaped cell. At the 

 bottom of the cell she places an egg and some bee-bread, this 

 substance being composed of pollen mixed with honey, and 

 then sets to work upon another cell ; and in this manner she 

 proceeds until she has made a series of cells, some two inches 

 in length. When the cells are first made, the natural elasticity 

 of the leaf renders them firm, and as they become dry and stiff 

 in a {^^ days, they are then so strong that they can be removed 

 from the burrow, and handled without breaking. 



There is another bee allied- to this genus, that employs the 

 petals of the scarlet poppy for this purpose, but unfortunately 

 it is not a native of England. Another species of burrowing bee, 

 Megachile centiinciUaris^ seems rather capricious in its choice 

 of burrows, at one time making its tunnel into an old post or 

 decaying tree, at another into the mortar of old walls, at another 

 into the ground. It is extremely variable in size, sometimes 

 barely exceeding a quarter of an incli in length, and sometimes 

 reaching twice that size. 



Very many species of pith-boring insects are known, most of 

 them inhabiting the dry twigs of the bramble and garden rose. 

 If at the cut end of a branch a round hole be found in the pith, 

 the observer may be sure that a nest of some kind is within. 

 Generally, on carefully laying the branch open, there appears a 

 whole series of cells, one above the other, and in such a case, 

 the cells which are farthest from the aperture aJways contain 

 the larvae ©f female insects, those nearest the entrance being 

 the males. 



Sometimes the nests which are found in the bramble contain 

 the larvae of Osmia leucomelafia^ a pretty little bee, scarcely 

 more than a quarter of an inch in length, black in colour, with a 

 very glossy abdomen, and a white, downy look about the legs. 



