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.