Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . be easy todetermine the insect which it was meant to represent; eventhe deeply-plumed hind-legs are represented in the moth. Of all the Solitary Bees, the genus Osmia is the most interest-ing, on account of the singular variety of its architecture. Someten species are known to inhabit England. However the dif-ferent species of Osmia may vary in detail of architecture, they all agree in the habitof making cells and stock-ing them with food for thefuture young. Several speciesmake their ce
Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . be easy todetermine the insect which it was meant to represent; eventhe deeply-plumed hind-legs are represented in the moth. Of all the Solitary Bees, the genus Osmia is the most interest-ing, on account of the singular variety of its architecture. Someten species are known to inhabit England. However the dif-ferent species of Osmia may vary in detail of architecture, they all agree in the habitof making cells and stock-ing them with food for thefuture young. Several speciesmake their cells in the deadstems of the blackberry, therose, and similar shrubs, dig-ging out the pith, and somaking a series of cells, endto end. They are, however,very much given to savingthemselves needless labour, and are in the habit of takingadvantage of any tubes that they may find. The straws ofthatched roofs are favourite localities with some species, butthey will sometimes make use of the most singular and un-expected objects as dwelling-places. Any hole or empty tube serves to be adapted to the purposes. Fig. 277.—Omnia tricolor. (Mack, barrel with orange.) NESTS m A FLUTE. 511 of the Osmia, which will even enter into houses in search of asuitable locality. Some years ago I was at a sale at Lee, andpurchased for a very small sum a band-box full of miscellaneousarticles. Among them was a flute, which was quite choked up,apparently as if some mischievous child had been stuffing it withpaper. On unscrewing the flute, I found it to be occupied withthe cells of the Osmia, the insect having evidently entered bythe mouth-hole and gradually filled the instrument with itscells. The mother-bee must have found its way into the dis-used rooms in which the band-box had been lying, and so con-trived to discover the flute. The flute is now in the BritishMuseum. Empty snail-shells are favourite localities with the Osmias,and in the British Museum is a very curious specimen. Theshell happened
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1883
