176 INSECT ARTIZANS AND THEIR WORK 



one from another, are attached by their edges to 

 the walls, and access from comb to comb is provided 

 by a central opening. This arrangement, it will be 

 seen, provides a box-like structure, very strong 

 and enduring, even when exposed to tropical 

 storms. 



Somewhat similar are the nests of the genus 

 Polybia, which are of various shapes according to 

 the species that build them, one of the most re- 

 markable being that of Polybia scutellaris, a native 

 of Brazil and Uruguay. It is about a couple of 

 feet deep and three feet in circumference, its 

 envelope of thick card like that of Cbartergus, but 

 instead of being smooth the surface is beset with 

 stout spikes of the same material, which have been 

 supposed to be a defence against the attacks of 

 mammals that have a sweet tooth — for, strange to 

 say, this wasp stores honey in some of its combs. 



We say " strange," but it is strange only in 

 contrast to the habits of most of the wasps we 

 know. Even the insect-feeding wasps are fond of 

 sweets, but they do not store honey because they 

 do not require it for winter consumption. If one 

 considers why bees store honey, it appears quite 

 natural that a community of wasps that continues 

 unbroken for years should do the same. This 

 point of view, however, never occurred to the 

 naturalists of a hundred years ago, when the 

 existence of honey-storing wasps was first brought 

 to their notice. They rejected it as a traveller's 

 tale. 



