. The Australian zoologist. Zoology; Zoology; Zoology. 184 NOMIA AUSTRALICA COMPLEX ARCHITECTURE The damp earth is pared off by the serrated posterior calcar, and brought up to be heaved out carelessly on the surface, so that a tumulus forms about the mouth of the shaft. The moundlets are most evident at new shafts, but the "spoil*" soon dries, and then is quickly dispersed by wind. Fig. 4: The "Chimney pots*' of Nomia halictella Ckll. are built among the grass and sugar cane of Queensland. and rain. The old shafts may be recognised by the mere clean hole at ground level. The sh
. The Australian zoologist. Zoology; Zoology; Zoology. 184 NOMIA AUSTRALICA COMPLEX ARCHITECTURE The damp earth is pared off by the serrated posterior calcar, and brought up to be heaved out carelessly on the surface, so that a tumulus forms about the mouth of the shaft. The moundlets are most evident at new shafts, but the "spoil*" soon dries, and then is quickly dispersed by wind. Fig. 4: The "Chimney pots*' of Nomia halictella Ckll. are built among the grass and sugar cane of Queensland. and rain. The old shafts may be recognised by the mere clean hole at ground level. The shafts usually have an "ante-room" excavated at about the 5 cm. level, and the "guard'* bee on duty at the door retires into it when the shaft has to be cleared for the descent of another bee. This habit is very marked in all halictine bees. There are frequently two shafts leading down to one "nest" in the marl, but in the sand, one shaft is the rule. The cells in marl are sometimes encountered at only 8 cm. down, but those in the sand generally are at deeper levels. Since the cells in a group are open contemporaneously during the early phases, it is certain that all the excavating is finished before any provisioning is attempted. There may, of course, be some other reason, for it is well-known among apiarists that the honey-bee Apis mellifera will sometimes delay the sealing of its cells containing well-developed larvae. It has been suggested that, as this phenomenon occurs always in hot weather, the delay is determined in some way by the temperature of the hive. However, the reason for the bees' unusual behaviour has not yet been adequately explained. The shafts appeared to be plastered with a thin coating of marl to bind the sand. Many shafts in the extensive colonies are separated by only 2 or 3 cm., while others may be as much as a metre or two distant, nevertheless the flight of bees over the site, on a warm clear day, is spectacular. Many of the ol
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1914
