90 INSECTS ABROAD. 



nest maintains its place in spite of its weight and the tossing 

 which it undergoes in windy weather. The honey is not de- 

 posited in continuous combs like those of the domestic bee, luit 

 in separate cells or "honey-pots." The wax is first formed into 



. 1 strings about as thick as crow-quills, 



and made into a sort of loose net- 

 work, in the interstices of which tlie 

 oval honey-pots are fixed, with th(;ir 

 mouths upwards. The wax is of dark 

 yellow-brown colour, much like that 

 of old leather. There is a good speci- 

 FiG.4i.-BnKi,ypepiu.auritus. men in the British Museum, where 

 the Trigonas [Trigona carhonaria of 

 New Holland) have deserted their usual trees and taken pos- 

 session of ati old box, which they have half filled with thtdr 

 curious combs. 



Within this nest is found the Bracliypeplus, scattered among 

 the sponge-like congeries of honey-pots and network. Its colour 

 is very much like that of the wax, being reddish black, the 

 former colour predominating around the edges of the body. The 

 name Bracliypeplus is formed from the Greek word signifying 

 " short tunic," and is given to the insect on account of its veiy 

 short elytra. The specific name auritas, or " eared," refers to the 

 two car-like projections from the head, which, as in all the 

 Nitidulidrc, is deeply sunk in the thorax. 



