HYMENOPTERA 



957 



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 cubensis, 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 POLISTIN^ 



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 bams ; they are also often made under fiat 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. — Nest of Polistes. 



Fig. 1 191. — 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. 1191). 



