Produced by Sue AsscherBRAMBLEBEES AND OTHERSby J HENRI FABRETRANSLATED BY ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS FZSTRANSLATORS NOTEIn this volume I have collected all the essays on Wild Bees scatteredthrough the Souvenirs entomologiques with the exception of those onthe Chalicodomae or Masonbees proper which form the contents of aseparate volume entitled The MasonbeesThe first two essays on the Halicti Chapters 12 and 13 have alreadyappeared in an abbreviated form in The Life and Love of the Insecttranslated by myself and published by Messrs A  C Black in Americaby the Macmillan Co in 1911 With the greatest courtesy and kindnessMessrs Black have given me their permission to include these twochapters in the present volume they did so without fee or considerationof any kind merely on my representation that it would be a great pityif this uniform edition of Fabres Works should be rendered incompletebecause certain essays formed part of volumes of extracts previouslypublished in this country Their generosity is almost unparalleled in myexperience and I wish to thank them publicly for it in the name ofthe author of the French publishers and of the English and Americanpublishers as well as in my ownOf the remaining chapters one or two have appeared in the EnglishReview or other magazines but most of them now see the light inEnglish for the first timeI have once more as in the case of The Masonbees to thank MissFrances Rodwell for the help which she has given me in the workof translation and research and I am also grateful for much kindassistance received from the staff of the Natural History Museum andfrom Mr Geoffrey MeadeWaldo in particularALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOSChelsea 1915CONTENTSTRANSLATORS NOTECHAPTER 1 BRAMBLEDWELLERSCHAPTER 2 THE OSMIAECHAPTER 3 THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SEXESCHAPTER 4 THE MOTHER DECIDES THE SEX OF THE EGGCHAPTER 5 PERMUTATIONS OF SEXCHAPTER 6 INSTINCT AND DISCERNMENTCHAPTER 7 ECONOMY OF ENERGYCHAPTER 8 THE LEAFCUTTERSCHAPTER 9 THE COTTONBEESCHAPTER 10 THE RESINBEESCHAPTER 11 THE POISON OF THE BEECHAPTER 12 THE HALICTI A PARASITECHAPTER 13 THE HALICTI THE PORTRESSCHAPTER 14 THE HALICTI PARTHENOGENESISINDEXCHAPTER 1 BRAMBLEDWELLERSThe peasant as he trims his hedge whose riotous tangle threatens toencroach upon the road cuts the trailing stems of the bramble a footor two from the ground and leaves the rootstock which soon dries upThese bramblestumps sheltered and protected by the thorny brushwoodare in great demand among a host of Hymenoptera who have families tosettle The stump when dry offers to any one that knows how to use ita hygienic dwelling where there is no fear of damp from the sap itssoft and abundant pith lends itself to easy work and the top offers aweak spot which makes it possible for the insect to reach the vein ofleast resistance at once without cutting away through the hardligneous wall To many therefore of the Bee and Wasp tribe whetherhoneygatherers or hunters one of these dry stalks is a valuablediscovery when its diameter matches the size of its wouldbeinhabitants and it is also an interesting subject of study to theentomologist who in the winter pruningshears in hand can gather inthe hedgerows a faggot rich in small industrial wonders Visiting thebramblebushes has long been one of my favourite pastimes during theenforced leisure of the wintertime and it is seldom but some newdiscovery some unexpected fact makes up to me for my torn fingersMy list which is still far from being complete already numbers nearlythirty species of brambledwellers in the neighbourhood of my houseother observers more assiduous than I exploring another region and onecovering a wider range have counted as many as fifty I give at foot aninventory of the species which I have notedBrambledwelling 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 SCHENCK     Ceratina chalcites GERM     Ceratina albilabris FAB     Ceratina callosa FAB     Ceratina coerulea VILLERS     2 HUNTING HYMENOPTERA     Solenius vagus FAB provisions Diptera     Solenius lapidarius LEP provisions Spiders     Cemonus unicolor PANZ provisions Plantlice     Psen atratus provisions Black Plantlice     Tripoxylon figulus LIN provisions Spiders     A Pompilus unknown provisions Spiders     Odynerus delphinalis GIRAUD     3 PARASITICAL HYMENOPTERA     A Leucopsis unknown parasite of Anthidium scapulare     A small Scoliid unknown parasite of Solenius vagus     Omalus auratus parasite of various brambledwellers     Cryptus bimaculatus GRAV parasite of Osmia detrita     Cryptus gyrator DUF parasite of Tripoxylon figulus     Ephialtes divinator ROSSI parasite of Cemonus unicolor     Ephialtes mediator GRAV parasite of Psen atratus     Foenus pyrenaicus GUERIN     Euritoma rubicola J GIRAUD parasite of Osmia detrita     4 COLEOPTERA     Zonitis mutica FAB parasite of Osmia tridentataMost of these insects have been submitted to a learned expert ProfessorJean Perez of Bordeaux I take this opportunity of renewing my thanksfor his kindness in identifying them for meAuthors NoteThey include members of very diverse corporations Some moreindustrious and equipped with better tools remove the pith from the drystem and thus obtain a vertical cylindrical gallery the length of whichmay be nearly a cubit This sheath is next divided by partitions intomore or less numerous storeys each of which forms the cell of a larvaOthers less wellendowed with strength and implements avail themselvesof the old galleries of other insects galleries that have beenabandoned after serving as a home for their builders family Their onlywork is to make some slight repairs in the ruined tenement to clear thechannel of its lumber such as the remains of