ENTOMOLOGY. 



747 



ttinma coronaria, and with my penknife shaved off some 

 of its down: and upon comparing it with tliat used in 

 the nest, under a magnifier, I found that they were ex- 

 actly the same. This, in conjuetion with Mr Trimmer's 

 account, persuades me that the material employed in this 

 instance is not the pappus of Anemone sylvestris, which 

 is of a more silky texture. There were several cells or 

 cases included in the lock unconnected with each other, 

 except by the wool, which was their common covering. 

 These cases were of an oval form, and consisted of an 

 exterior coat of wool ; under this was a membranaceous 

 cell of a pale colour, which was covered with a number 

 of vermiform masses of a brown substance, seemingly 

 made of pollen and honey, in shape and size much re- 

 sembling S/i/iaria canaliculata, and like that fungus dis- 

 tinguished by a longitudinal furrow slightly impressed 

 These were laid, without any regular order, over the 

 cell, and by meaus of them the wool, which formed its 

 exterior cout, was made to adhere. It is remarkable 

 that this bee should employ these materials to cover its 

 cells, which others use only as food for their larvae. At 

 the summit of this membranaceous case is a small chim- 

 ney, with an orifice ; and within it contains another cell, 

 which is rather coriaceous, strong, and of a brown co- 

 lour, in the inside shining very much, as if covered with 

 tinfoil. This may be the folliculus or coccoon made by 

 the larva, previous to its assuming the pupa. I opened 

 one of these in the autumn, and another in the spring. 

 In both'the animal was still in its larva state, but had no 

 food remaining in its cell. In that opened in the spring, 

 it appeared to be dead. I imagine, when Sir Thomas 

 Cullum first took them, that they were just ready for 

 their first change ; but that the alteration produced by 

 removing the nest from the situation the parent insect 

 had chosen for it, was fatal to some, if not all of its inha- 

 bitants. Amongst the wool were masses of sweet pollen 

 paste." lie afterwards adds an extract from the Rev. 

 Gilbert While's A'a tnra list's Calendar, (p. 109.) "There 

 is a sort of wild bee frequenting the garden campion for 

 the sake of its tomentum, which probably it turns to 

 some purpose in the business of nidification. It is very 

 pleasant to see with what address it strips off the pubes, 

 running from the top to the bottom of a branch, and sha- 

 ving it bare with all the dexterity of a hoop-shaver. 

 When it has got a bundle almost as large as itself, it 

 flies away, holding it secure between its chin and its fore 

 legs." 



Genus DCLVII. Osmia. Panzer, Spinola, Latr. 



Ans. Linn. Villers, Kirby. (*» c. 2. <?.) 



Anthofiioka. Fabricius, Illiger, Klug. 



Megaohile. Walckenaer. 



Tkachusa, Jurine. 



Hori.rns. Klug. 



Amblys. Klug. 



Labial palpi with the second joint not longer than the 

 'first. Maxillary palpi four-jointed. Abdomen convex 

 ab'ove, hairy beneath in the females. Mandibles broad. 



Sfi, I. Cornuta. 



Osmia cornuta. Latreille. 



Osmia bicornis. Panzer ? 



A/iis bicornis. Kirby ? 



Inhabits Europe. 



This species selects the hollows of large stones for 

 the purpose of nidificating. 



S/i. 2. Carulescens. 



Afiis carulescens. Kirby, Linn. 



Afds enea. Linn. 



Inhabits Europe, constructing its nest of argillaceous 



earth mixed with chalk, upon stone walls. Mr Kirby 

 supposes that it nidificates also in chalk pits. 



Genus DCLVIII. Meoachii.e. Latr. Walck. Spin. 



Ai'is. Linn. Villers, Kirby. (** c. 2. a.) 



An tiiophora. Fabr. Illiger, Panzer, Klug. 



Trachusa. Jurine. 



Xylocopa. Fabricius. 



Centris. Fabricius. 



Labial palpi with the second joint not longer than the 

 first. Maxillary palpi two-jointed, the first rather longest. 

 Mandibles very strong. Abdomen triangular, flat above, 

 very downy beneath in the females. 



The insects of this genus are well known by the name 

 of Leaf-cullers, Carficnter-bees, and Cou/ieuses defeuil- 

 les ; their interesting economy having attracted the at- 

 tention of many naturalists. So early as 1670, it was 

 Noticed by Ray, Dr Lister, Willoughby, and Sir Edward 

 King. Linnaeus in this, as in many other instances, (sup- 

 posing the economy of a genus to be peculiar to one spe- 

 cies only,) has confounded several species under the ge- 

 neral title of A/iis ccntuncularis, and denoted it by the 

 orange-coloured hairs which cover the under side of the 

 abdomen, a character which it possesses along with a 

 great number of species. 



Some of the species nidificate in trees, and others be- 

 neaili the ground. The following history of the econo- 

 my of the genus, (and which will apply to all with which 

 we are acquainted,) is given by Reaumur. "The nests 

 they construct are cylindrical, sometimes six inches in 

 length, and composed entirely of the leaves of trees. 

 They usually consist of several cells, each of which is 

 shaped like a thimble, the convex end of the second fit- 

 ting closely into the open end of the first, the third into 

 the second, and so on with respect to the rest. Although 

 these cells arc honey-tight, which is often found within 

 them in a liquid state, yet the portions of the leaves are not 

 glued together, but merely most accurately adjusted to 

 each other. In forming the cell, the pieces of leaf are 

 made to lap over one another, so that the natural margin 

 of the leaf is kept on the outside, and that which has 

 been cut within ; thus a tube is first formed, and in this 

 way coated with three or four layers, the exterior cover- 

 ing being made of larger pieces than the interior. In 

 coating, the provident insect is very careful to lay the 

 middle of each leaf over the margins of those that form 

 the first tube ; thus the sutures are covered and strength- 

 ened. At the closed end, or narrow extremity of the 

 cell, the leaves have a bend given to them, so as to 

 form a convex termination ; when a cell is formed in 

 this manner, her next care is to fill it with pollen and 

 honey. When it is nearly filled, she deposits an egg, 

 and closes it with three pieces of leaf," (sometimes with 

 more,) "which arc so exactly circular, that a pair of 

 compasses could not define their margin more truly; 

 and these coincide most accurately with the sides of the 

 cell, and are retained in their situation by no gluten, 

 but by the accuracy of their adaptation alone. After 

 this covering is fitted in, there remains still a conca- 

 vity which receives the convex end of the succeeding 

 cell. In this manner, the patient and indefatigable lit- 

 tle animal proceeds, till she has completed her cylinder 

 of six or seven cells. This cylinder is coated externally 

 by other pieces of leaf of larger dimensions than those 

 used in making the cells, and of a different form, for 

 they are nearly oval ; those at the ends are bent in- 

 wards, to cover each extremity. These nests are usual- 

 ly made in fistular passages, which these indefatigable 

 creatures bore under ground in a horizontal direction ; 

 5 13 2 



