[Footnote 4: Cf. _Bramble-bees and Others_: _passim_.--_Translator's Note_.]
The cells of the Anthophora, with their faultless geometrical regularity and their perfect finish, are works of art, excavated, at a suitable depth, in the very substance of the loamy bank, without any manufactured part save the thick lid that closes the orifice. Thus protected by the prudent industry of their mother, well out of reach in their distant, solid retreats, the Anthophora's larvæ are devoid of the glandular apparatus designed for secreting silk. They therefore never spin a cocoon, but lie naked in their cells, whose inner surface has the polish of stucco.
In the Osmia's cells, on the other hand, means of defence are required, for these are situated in the surface layer of the bank; they are irregular in form, rough inside and barely protected, by their thin earthen partitions, against external enemies. The Osmia's larvæ, in fact, contrive to enclose themselves in an egg-shaped cocoon, dark brown in colour and very strong, which preserves them both from the rough contact of their shapeless cells and from the mandibles of voracious parasites, Acari,[5] Cleri[6] and Anthreni,[7] those manifold enemies whom we find prowling in the galleries, seeking whom they may devour. It is by means of this equipoise between the mother's talents and the larva's that the Osmia and the Anthophora, in their early youth, escape some part of the dangers which threaten them. It is easy therefore, in the bank excavated by these two Bees, to recognize the property of either species by the situation and form of the cells and also by their contents, which consist, with the Anthophora, of a naked larva and, with the Osmia, of a larva enclosed in a cocoon.
[Footnote 5: Mites and Ticks.--_Translator's Note_.]
[Footnote 6: A genus of Beetles of which certain species (_Clerus apiarius_ and _C. alvearius_) pass their preparatory state in the nests of Bees, where they feed on the grubs.--_Translator's Note_.]
[Footnote 7: Another genus of Beetles. The grub of _A. musæorum_, the Museum Beetle, is very destructive to insect-collections.--_Translator's Note_.]
On opening a certain number of these cocoons, we end by discovering some which, in place of the Osmia's larva, contain each a curiously shaped nymph. These nymphs, at the least shock received by their dwelling, indulge in extravagant movements, lashing the walls with their abdomen till the whole house shakes and dances. And, even if we leave the cocoon intact, we are informed of their presence by a dull rustle heard inside the silken dwelling the moment after we move it.