OSMIA. INSECTS. 0. LnUCOMELANA. 195 
wild thyme. The Nomada sexfasciata is parasitic on 
the bee called Eucera longicornis, and may be seen in 
the month of June flying about where these bees have 
a colony, and occasionally entering into and issuing 
from their burrows. 
' Genus Epeolus. — There is but one British species 
of this genus ; it is short and glabrous, and distinguished 
by the maxillary palpi being short and one-jointed. 
Epeolus variegatus is a parasite on another bee, Colletes 
Daviesana, and is found in its burrows. The males 
like the males of most bees, seem to be a lazy set, 
passing most of their time reposing in flowers. The 
females are also very sluggish, and may be easily taken 
with the hand. Their sting is very sharp. 
Genus Ccelioxys. — This is another genus of para- 
sitic bees, and may be known by the abdomen being 
conical in the female, and toothed at the tip in the 
male. The mandibles are broad and toothed. There 
are six British species described ; they are parasites on 
Saropoda, and Megachile. 
Genus Stelis. — This is another parasitic genus of 
bees, which is short and ovate. There are three species 
found in these islands. The female of Stelis phceoptera 
has been observed entering the burrows of Osmia 
fulviventris in an old post. On one occasion it flew 
out to a short distance and settled on another post, 
apparently waiting for the Osmia to complete her 
labour, for immediately on the latter leaving, the Stelis 
re-entered. One of the species is parasitic on an 
Osmia, which makes its nest in bramble sticks. 
Genus Melecta. — Two species of this genus are 
found in this country. One of these {Melecta luc- 
tuosa) is a beautiful jet-black bee, spotted with snow- 
white. It is parasitic on Anthopliora. Mr. Smith has 
frequently bred it from the cells of that bee. In the 
autumn of 1852 he procured a great number of larvae 
from the nests of the Anthophora. He could detect 
no diflerence in their form, but some were orange- 
yellow and others white. All the yellow larvae turned 
into Ardliopliora, and some of the pale larvae proved 
to be Melecta. He adds that these bees are frequently 
infested with the larva of the genus of beetles called 
Meloe, a dozen of them sometimes adhering to the 
sides of the metathorax. 
Genus Os.\iia. — Of the genus Osmia ten species are 
British. 
OSMIA RUPA is the most abundant species in this 
country ; the female is armed on each side of the 
clypeus with a stout horn (hence the name also given 
to it of Osmia bicornis). This pretty bee varies its 
economy according to circumstances. “ In hilly coun- 
try or at the sea-side, it chooses the sunny side of 
cliffs or sandy banks, in which it forms its burrows ; 
but in cultivated districts, particularly if the soil be 
clayey, it selects a decaying tree, preferring the stump 
of an old willow. It laj^s up a store of pollen and honey 
for the larvse, which, when full grown, spin a tough 
dark-brown cocoon, in which they remain in the larva 
state until the autumn, when the majority change to 
pupae, and soon arrive at their perfect conditicn. 
Many, however, pass the winter in the larva state.” 
This Osmia frequently makes its burrows in the mortar 
of old walls. 
OSMIA LEUCOMELANA selects for her nest the dead 
branches of the common bramble, and removes from 
them the pith, usually to the depth of from five to six 
inches. At the end she deposits a supply of food, 
which she closes in with a substance like masticated 
leaves. In one bramble stick she usually forms five 
or six cells. She does not extract the whole of the 
pith, but alternately widens and contracts the diameter 
of the tube, each contraction indicating the end of a 
cell. Immediately before closing up each cell, she 
deposits an egg. The egg is white, and about the size 
and shape of a caraway seed. The larva is hatched in 
about eight days, and feeds about ten or twelve, when 
it is full grown, and spins for itself a thin silken cover- 
ing. In this cocoon it remains till the following spring, 
when it goes through its other transformations, appear- 
ing in June as a winged bee. 
“The two most interesting species found in these 
islands are the Osmia aurulenta and 0. bicolor. These 
bees generally burrow in banks, particularly the latter, 
which forms colonies. It appears to be the natural 
habit of these species to construct tunnels in hard banks 
with great labour and untiring perseverance ; still we 
find them at times exhibiting an amount of sagacity 
and a degree of knowledge that at once dispels the 
idea of their actions being the result of mere blind 
instinct, impelling them in one undeviating course. A 
moment’s consideration will suffice to call to mind 
many tunnels and tubes, ready formed, which would 
appear to be admii ably adapted for the purposes of the 
bee; for instance, the straws of a thatch and many 
reeds ; and what coifld be more admirably adapted to 
their requirements than the tubes of many shells? So 
thinks the bee. 0. aurulenta and 0. bicolor both select 
the shells of Helix hortensis and Helix nemoralis. The 
shells of these snails are, of course, very abundant, and 
lie half hidden beneath grass, mosses, and plants. The 
bees, finding them in such situations, dispense with their 
accustomed labour, and take possession of the deserted 
shells. The number of cells varies according to the 
length of the whorl of the shells selected, the usual 
number being four; but in some instances they con- 
struct five or six, commencing at the end of the whorl. 
A suitable supply of pollen and honey is collected, an 
egg deposited, and a partition formed of abraded vege- 
table matter. The process is repeated until the requi- 
site number is formed, when the whole is most carefully 
protected by closing up the entrance with small pellets 
of clay, sticks, and pebbles ; these are firmly cemented 
together with some glutinous matter, and the bee has 
finished her task. When she has selected the shell of 
a much larger snail, say that of Helix aspersa, in which 
the whorl is much larger in diameter than that of the 
other two, in fact, too wide for a single cell, our little 
architect, never at a loss, readily adapts it to her 
purpose, by forming tw'o cells side by side ; and as 
she advances towards the entrance of the whorl, it 
becomes too wide even for this contrivance. Here let 
us admire the ingenuity of the little creature : she 
constructs a couple of cells transversely ! — and this is 
the little animal which has been so blindly slandered 
as being a mere machine. On the beautiful chalk 
slopes, not far from Mr. Atkin’s seat of Halstead Place, 
