490 INSECTS ABROAD. 



this case the second cell is fastened to one side of the first, and 

 so in a series of pairs until the group is completed. 



Wherever the Icarias take a fancy to some spot, the nests 

 are very numerous. There is a very curious example in the 

 British Museum, where a number of nests have been fixed to 

 the footstalk of a leaf, and a number more to the mid-rib of the 

 same leaf. 



The genus extends through all the warmer parts of the globe ; 

 and there are in the British Museum specimens from Africa 

 and Madagascar, the Celebes, New Guinea and Australia, India, 

 China, Burmah, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. 



The habits of the Icarias are well shown by Mr. Home in 

 his essay upon the Hymenoptera of North- western India : — 



" This pretty little insect lives in smaU communities, and 

 builds an elegant nest of paper prepared by itself, which is very 

 tough, and attached to leaves, stalks, &c., by thin but strong 

 pedicles. It frequents flowers, and appears to feed on poUen. 

 The posterior segments of the body are very retractile, causing 

 the abdomen to assume a curious truncated appearance. In 

 the example figured on a stalk, the ceU-mouths are aU upwards, 

 which is strange, as the young grubs, the mouths of whose cells 

 are open to the weather, must need some protection. The same 

 was in a great measure the case with the cells on the mango leaf, 



" The cells are beautifully regular, being perfect hexagons ; 

 and the strength with which the footstalk is fastened is surprising. 

 There appears to be used for this portion of the work some kind 

 of gum, with which they cover their plaster; and this much 

 resembles varnish in appearance. It is probably derived from 

 the babool or mango tree, both of which abound near Benares, 

 where these nests were found, 



" On one occasion I found a group of these little series of cells 

 hanging in a covered tomb ; they were attached to a stone slab, 

 and all, of course, face downwards. Unfortunately they were 

 old nests and quite empty. They consisted of a series of combs, 

 and the number of cells in each averaged sixteen only. In this 

 case shelter had evidently been sought, and in the two cases 

 formerly noted, the insects were in a measure shielded from the 

 direct influence of the rain by the thickness of the foliage of 

 the mango tree above them ; for the habit of this Icaria is, as 

 a rule, to build under shelter. 



