CHAPTER 1. BRAMBLE-DWELLERS.

CHAPTER 2. THE OSMIAE.

CHAPTER 3. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEXES.

CHAPTER 4. THE MOTHER DECIDES THE SEX OF THE EGG.

CHAPTER 5. PERMUTATIONS OF SEX.

CHAPTER 6. INSTINCT AND DISCERNMENT.

CHAPTER 7. ECONOMY OF ENERGY.

CHAPTER 8. THE LEAF-CUTTERS.

CHAPTER 9. THE COTTON-BEES.

CHAPTER 10. THE RESIN-BEES.

CHAPTER 11. THE POISON OF THE BEE.

CHAPTER 12. THE HALICTI: A PARASITE.

CHAPTER 13. THE HALICTI: THE PORTRESS.

CHAPTER 14. THE HALICTI: PARTHENOGENESIS.

INDEX.

CHAPTER 1. BRAMBLE-DWELLERS.

The peasant, as he trims his hedge, whose riotous tangle threatens to
encroach upon the road, cuts the trailing stems of the bramble a foot
or two from the ground and leaves the root-stock, which soon dries up.
These bramble-stumps, sheltered and protected by the thorny brushwood,
are in great demand among a host of Hymenoptera who have families to
settle. The stump, when dry, offers to any one that knows how to use it
a hygienic dwelling, where there is no fear of damp from the sap; its
soft and abundant pith lends itself to easy work; and the top offers a
weak spot which makes it possible for the insect to reach the vein of
least resistance at once, without cutting away through the hard
ligneous wall. To many, therefore, of the Bee and Wasp tribe, whether
honey-gatherers or hunters, one of these dry stalks is a valuable
discovery when its diameter matches the size of its would-be
inhabitants; and it is also an interesting subject of study to the
entomologist who, in the winter, pruning-shears in hand, can gather in
the hedgerows a faggot rich in small industrial wonders. Visiting the
bramble-bushes has long been one of my favourite pastimes during the
enforced leisure of the wintertime; and it is seldom but some new
discovery, some unexpected fact, makes up to me for my torn fingers.

My list, which is still far from being complete, already numbers nearly
thirty species of bramble-dwellers in the neighbourhood of my house;
other observers, more assiduous than I, exploring another region and one
covering a wider range, have counted as many as fifty. I give at foot an
inventory of the species which I have noted.

(Bramble-dwelling insects in the neighbourhood of Serignan [Vaucluse]:

1. MELLIFEROUS HYMENOPTERA.
Osmia tridentata, DUF. and PER.
Osmia detrita, PEREZ.
Anthidium scapulare, LATR.
Heriades rubicola, PEREZ.
Prosopis confusa,