428 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



acervorum was afforded at Cotteuham, a few miles from Cambridge. 

 The bees had made their habitat in the front wall of a cottage 

 with an eastern aspect. This wall was plastered with a clayey 

 material, rather friable to the fingers, and roughly "dashed" 

 with small flints. The bees reached a maximum about two 

 years ago, when they had excavated over two hundred cells. 

 Their constant coming and going made a continuous hum, and 

 occasionally they formed such a cloud as to remind one of 

 Gilbert White's account of this " wild bee " which appeared 

 in great numbers on Mount Carbon, near Lewes, and dashed 

 " round the heads of intruders with a sharp and hostile sound." 



The manipulations of the bee on making its burrow were 

 most interesting ; the mouth-parts were used to remove the 

 plaster, the resulting fine debris was then kicked out with 

 the middle and third pairs of legs. Smooth tunnels were thus 

 patiently made, many were very tortuous and pierced the wall 

 for about three inches, probably ending between the bricks or 

 stones behind the plaster. The nucleus of some was formed by 

 the dislodging of a flint. 



The parasite of A. acervorum is Melecta armata. The latter 

 is a handsome bee in a quiet way, being of a shining black 

 varied with spots of white pubescence. Melecta is an interest- 

 ing exception to Shuckard's contention that the parasitism of a 

 bee is proportionate to high coloration, " great decoration 

 being in our native genera of bees the badge of parasitism." * 

 Shuckard has also described the fierce pugnacity with which 

 Anthophora attacks the invader of its nest.t Friese's observa- 

 tions tend to show that the relations between the two are not 

 friendly. He says that Melecta gets out of the way of the home- 

 coming host. D. Sharp t doubts whether this can be construed 

 as fear, and thinks it more likely that the intruder would find it 

 more discreet to avoid disturbing Anthophora as "it is the 

 interest of the parasite to avoid annoyance and to be well- 

 mannered in its approaches." 



During the many opportunities I had of observing the 

 attitude of the insects to one another, I failed to note any 



Shuckard, ' British Bees,' p. 66. 

 t Ibid., p. 240. 

 { Sharp, ' Cambridge Natural History.' vol. vi. p. 32. 



