480 



INSECTS ABROAD. 



fully, given to these insects on account ot the havoc which they 

 work among sundry larvffi, spiders, &c. The Eumenides were 

 the furies of the Greek classics, the ministers of vengeance 

 appointed by the greater gods to inflict punishment on offend- 

 ing mankind. 



The present species derives its nan\e of xanthura, or " yellow 

 tail," from its colour. The head and abdomen are black, except 



that a considerable portion 

 of the end of the abdomen 

 is ruddy chestnut. The tho- 

 rax is also chestnut, but on 

 its upper surface is a large 

 patch of deep brown. The 

 abdomen has a soft velvet 

 look, on account of the deep 

 punctures with which it is 

 perfectly covered. The wings 

 are shining, and yellowish 

 in colour. It is an Indian 

 insect. Closely allied to it 

 is another Indian species, 

 Eumenes fdiolata, which 

 very much resembles it in form, but may be distinguished 

 by a single broad bar of yellow across the middle of the 

 abdomen. This insect makes a large nest of nmd, about the 

 size of a pigeon's egg, and affixes it under some projection, 

 probably for the sake of sheltering it from the rain. An 

 egg is placed in each nest, which is then well stored with cater- 

 pillars. Sometimes, in a favourable position, a whole row of 

 these nests may be seen, set side by side. The insect builds 

 them in all kinds of places ; and in a paper in the Transactions 

 of the Entomological Society it is stated that in one case a key- 

 hole was chosen as a locality for the nest, and in another, the 

 interior of a disused flute. 



25V. — Eirnencs xanthura. 

 {Black and yellow ) 



On Plate VIII. Fig 3 is drawn a beautiful species from 

 Northern India, called Eumenes esuriens. In his paper on tlie 

 Indian Hymenoptera, Mr. Home observes that the insect has a 

 habit of choosing doors and posts as localities for its nest, 

 which, like that of any Eumenes, is always made with an 



