974 AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



to the envelope. This wasp is especially interesting from the fact 

 that it frequently stores honey in the combs of its nest; but the 

 honey is probably not an exclusive or essential constituent of the larval 

 food. 



Mischocyttarus .■ — This tropical genus is represented in our fauna 

 by two species, one, Mischocyttarus cuhensis, found in Florida and in 

 Southern Georgia, one, Mischocyttarus flavitdrsis, found in the South- 

 west, Colorado, and California. 



These wasps make small, few-celled paper nests, without an en- 

 velope like those of Polistes; but the wasps are easily distinguished 

 from Polistes by the form of the first segment of the abdomen which 

 is slender and elongate, forming a pedicel. The nests of M. cubensis 

 are found on palmetto leaves. 



Subfamily POLISTINiE 



Polistes 



The wasps of the genus Polistes and their nests are very familiar 

 objects. The nests consist each of a single comb suspended by a 

 peduncle, and the comb is not enclosed in an envelope (Fig. 1190). 

 These nests are often built under the eaves of buildings, in garrets, and 

 in sheds and barns ; they are also often made under flat stones in fields, 

 and sometimes attached to bushes. The combs of our species of 

 Polistes are horizontal; but the nests of Polistes linedtus, which I 



Fig. 1 190. — N est oi Polistes. Fig. 1191. — Polistes. 



found hanging from the ceiling of a cave in Cuba, are long, narrow, 

 vertical combs, from one to two inches in width and from twelve to 

 eighteen inches in length. 



The nests are made of a grayish paper-like material, composed of 

 fibers of weather-worn wood, which the wasps collect from the sides 

 of unpainted buildings, fences, and other places, and convert into a 

 paste by the action of the jaws and the addition of some fluid, prob- 

 ably an oral secretion. The nests of Polistes are usually comparatively 

 small ; but some have been found in Texas that measured more than 

 a foot in diameter. 



In this genus the abdomen is long and spindle-shaped (Fig. 1 191). 



