Dr. T. W. Harris states that May 15, 1832, one female laid its eggs in the hollow of an aster stalk. Three perfect insects were disclosed from it July 28th. The observations of Mr. Angus, who saw some bees making their cells May 18th, also confirm this account. The history of our little upholsterer is thus cleared up. Late in the spring she builds her cells, fills them with pollen, and lays one or more eggs upon each mass. Thus in about two months the insect completes its transformations; within this period passing through the egg, the larva and chrysalid states, and then, as a bee, living a few days more, if a male; or if a female, living through the winter. Her life thus spans one year. The larva (Fig. 23) is longer than that of Megachile, and compared with that of Xylocopa, the different segments are much more convex, giving a serrate outline to the back of the worm. The pupa, or chrysalis, we have found in the cells the last of July. It is white, and three-tenths of an inch long. It differs from that of the Leaf-cutter bee in having four spines on the end of the body. [Illustration: 23. Larva of Ceratina.] [Illustration: 24. Nest of Tailor Bee.] In none of the wild bees are the cells constructed with more nicety than those of our little Ceratina. She bores out with her jaws a long deep well just the size of her body, and then stretches a thin, delicate cloth of silk drawn tight as a drum-head across each end of her chambers, which she then fills with a mixture of pollen and honey. [Illustration: 25. Tailor Bee.] Her young are not, in this supposed retreat, entirely free from danger. The most invidious foes enter and attack the brood. Three species of Ichneumon flies, two of which belong to the Chalcid family, lay their eggs within the body of the larva, and emerge from the dried larva and pupa skins of the bee, often in great numbers. The smallest parasite, belonging to the genus Anthophorabia, so called from being first known as a parasite on another bee (Anthophora), is a minute species found also abundantly in the tight cells of the Leaf-cutter bee. The interesting habits of the Leaf-cutting, or Tailor bee (Megachile), have always attracted attention. This bee is a stout, thick-bodied insect, with a large, square head, stout, sharp, scissors-like jaws, and with a thick mass of stout, dense hairs on the under side of the tail for carrying pollen, as she is not provided with the pollen-basket of the Honey and Humble bees.