OF WASHINGTON. 25 
Schwarzin the Santa Rita Mountains, and still later by Messrs. 
Schwarz and Barber at Williams. Lastly it has been found by 
Mr. Webb, as above stated. Mr. Heidemann added that Ho- 
molocoris and another genus, Hammatocerus, form a distinct 
subfamily of the Reduviidae known as the Hammatocerinae. 
This is the only species of Homalocoris which has been reported 
north of the Mexican boundary. 
Mr. Barber exhibited an original photograph of a wasp nest 
from Brownsville, Texas, made by the Vespid Gaba (Nectarina) 
mellifica Say. He was told by the negro who had possession of 
the nest that these wasps produce a palatable honey and that it 
is customary for the Mexicans to secure the nests when small 
and keep them until of full size, then destroying the wasps and 
extracting the honey. The nest was similar to those of our 
common paper-making wasp, Vespa maculata, except that in 
its lower portion the cells were exposed. It was globular in 
shape and about nine inches in diameter not of full size, 
according to the negro, who, after cautiously inserting a knife 
into it, withdrawing it and examining the blade, asserted that 
there was yet too little honey contents to make it worth while 
to open it up. Mr. Barber said he tried to taste the honey, but 
the amount on the knife blade was so small that he could 
scarcely detect any flavor. Thomas Say, 1 in the paragraph 
following his original description, says of this species that near 
Jalapa, Mexico, his attention was attracted by a group of In- 
dians eating honey from a paper nest. He found that the honey 
had a pleasant taste and inferred from the gestures of the In- 
dians that the nest was obtained from a tree. 
Mr. Ashmead remarked that it was of interest, in this connec- 
tion, to note that another Vespoid wasp (Celonites abbrematus 
Villers, of the family Masaridae), coming from Algiers, is said to 
be a honey-maker. Mr. Benton expressed some doubt as to 
whether the substance produced by the wasps is real honey, 
but thought it might consist of brood food accumulated in the 
cells. Mr. Titus stated that he had received from Trinidad, 
from Mr. H. D. Chipman, a Vespid from which honey is said to 
be obtained. 
1 LeConte's Edition, Vol. u, p. 769. 
