84 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



One species of our little upholsterers has been 

 called the poppy-bee (Omnia papaveris, Latr.), 

 from its selecting the scarlet petals of the poppy as 

 tapestry for its cells. Kirby and Spence express 

 their doubts whether it is indigenous to this coun- 

 try: we are almost certain that we have seen the 

 nests in Scotland*. At Largs, in Ayrshire, a beau- 

 tiful sea-bathing village on the Firth of Clyde, in 

 July, 1814, we found in a foot-path a great num- 

 ber of the cylindrical perforations of the poppy-bee. 

 K&urnur remarked that the cells of this bee which 

 he found at Bercy, were situated in a northern ex- 

 posure, contrary to what he had remarked in the 

 mason-bee, which prefers the south. The cells at 

 Largs, however, were on an elevated bank, facing 

 the south, near Sir Thomas Brisbane's observatory. 

 With respect to exposure, indeed, no certain rule 

 seems applicable; for the nests of mason-bees which 

 we found on the wall of Greenwich Park faced the 

 north-east, and we have often found carpenter-bees 

 make choice of a similar situation. In one instance, 

 we found carpenter-bees working indifferently on the 

 north-east and south-west side of the same post. 



As we did not perceive any heaps of earth near 

 the holes at Largs, we concluded that it must either 

 have been carried off piecemeal when they were 

 dug, or that they were old holes re-occupied — (a 

 circumstance common with bees), and that the rub- 

 bish had been trodden down by passengers. Reau- 

 mur, who so minutely describes the subsequent ope- 

 rations of the bee, says nothing respecting its exca 

 vations. One of these holes is about three inches 

 deep, gradually widening as it descends, till it assumes 

 the form of a small Florence flask. The interior of 

 this is rendered smooth, uniform, and polished, in 



