HAKLEQUIN BEETLE. 177 



wood-burrowers, and in the British Museum may be seen a piece 

 of a tree in which the beetle is still lying, its enormously long 

 limbs packed up into a very small compass. Exotic wood- 

 burrowing beetles are very plentiful, and there is no doubt that 

 several rare or doubtful British species have been introduced as 

 grubs within foreign timber, and that they have made their way 

 out after importation. The Docks are celebrated for the arrival 

 of such distinguished strangers, and a fine collection of exotic 

 beetles has been made by searching the cargoes of timber, after 

 they have been discharged from the ships in which they were 

 brought over the sea. 



We now come to the wood-boring bees, the name of which 

 is legion, and a few examples of which wiU be now described 

 and figured. 



Immediately below the cocoon of the Ehagiuiu may be seen 

 a tunnelled branch, containing two curiously formed cells. 

 These cells are made of rose-leaves, and are the work of the 

 EosE-cuTTEE Bee {Megachih WillougKbiella), or Willow Bee, 

 as it is often called, because its burrows are so frequently made 

 in decaying wiUow-trees. This species is very common in most 

 parts of England, and is therefore a good example of the wood- 

 boring bees. The method by which the nests are made is very 

 curious. After the insect has bored a hole of suitable dimensions 

 in some old tree, she sets off in search of materials for the 

 cells, and mostly betakes herself to a rose-bush, or laburnum- 

 tree. She then examines one leaf after another, and having fixed 

 on one to her mind, she settles upon it, clinging to its edge with 

 her feet, and then, using her feet as one leg of a pair of com- 

 passes, and her jaws as the other, she quickly cuts out a nearly 

 semicircular piece of leaf. As she supports herself by clinging 

 to the very piece of leaf which she cuts, she would fall to the 

 ground, when the leaf was severed, did she not take the pre- 

 caution of balancing on her wings for a few moments before 

 making the last cut. As soon as the portion 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 



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