1929 ] 
Biology of Mining Bees 
169 
above. One may even swing the net or otherwise disturb 
them or even handle them with impunity. They possess 
stings, but they seem not to know how to use them when 
taken in the fingers. 1 Thus we see that our American 
Anthophora, while gregarious, are very primitive in the 
scale of socialization. 
The White-banded Bee, Entechnia taurea 
Say (J. C. Crawford) 2 
While the mining-bee Anthophora abrupta , would build 
only horizontally in the face of the clay bank in the bright 
sunlight, the species now considered, her nearest neighbor, 
whose nesting-habits were in general very similar, built 
vertical burrows in the top of the bank. Sunlight was not a 
factor in their choice of a site, for most of their burrows 
were far back in the shadow of the porch where the amount 
of light was much reduced. 
!Fig. 5. Anthophora abrupta. Fig. 6. Anthophora raui. Fig. 7. Entechnia taurea. 
These white-banded mining bees, Entechnia taurea (fig. 
7) worked energetically through a much longer season than 
the Anthophora bees. They were out and buzzing about the 
holes in the clay bank as early as July 12th, 1917, and a few 
were still to be seen on October 3rd, although many dead 
1 Many of these bees were taken in the fingers and marked before 
being taken on homing flights (Journal Comp. Psychology, pp. 35-70. 
1929) but they never retaliated with a sting. 
2 This identification was verified by Mr. S. A. Rohwer, who calls it 
(Entechnia) Melitoma taurea. 
