282 



ANIMAL LIFE 



if we reflect how much human civilisation in its critical 

 pastoral and tribal stages has depended on agriculture 

 we realise how greatly we are indebted to these honey- 

 suckers and pollen gatherers. 



Not all the solitary bees are so destitute as 

 Prosopis. The majority are well clad, hairy-legged 



P n;. 58. — Hind-legs of three Solitary Decs : A. the smooth leg of Prosopis 

 uilh no pollen-gathering apparatus ; B ; leg of Halidus with short hairs ; 

 C, leg of Dasypoda with great tufts of pollen-bearing hairs.- (After 

 Miiller.) figures of these bees are given by Sharp (see p. 300). 



borrowers. Some carry pollen on their furry breasts, 

 others on their thighs. Some dig in the ground, 

 shovelling with their legs, and excavating first a gallery 

 and then brood chambers which are stocked with 

 balls of honeyed pollen. Others construct a tunnel in 

 a bramble stalk, and beginning at the lower end store 

 ball after ball and egg after egg, in single file, until 



