44 



INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



like those of the same tribe, with balls of pollen kneaded 

 with honey, as a provision for the grubs. 



The female ceratina selects a branch of the bramble or 

 wild-rose which has been accidentally broken, and digs into 

 the pith only, leaving the wood and bark nntouched. Her 

 mandibles, indeed, are not adapted for gnawing wood ; and, 

 accordingly, he found instances in which she could not 

 finish her nest in branches of the wild-rose, where the pith 

 was not of sufiicient diameter. 



Tlie insect usually makes her perforation a foot in depth, 

 and divides this into eight, nine, or even twelve cells, each 

 about five lines long, and separated by partitions formed by 

 the gnawings of the pith, cemented by honey, or some 

 similar glutinous fluid, much in the same manner with the 

 xylocopa violacea, which we have already described. 



Carpenter-Wasps. 



As there are mason-wasps similar in economy to mason- 

 bees, so are there solitaiy carpenter- wasps which dig gal 



WJJ^'i^ 



Al'-'' 



A B represent sections of old wooden posts, with the cells ot the carpenter-wasp. In 

 fig. A tlie young grubs are shown feeding <)n the insects placed there for their support 

 by the parent wasp. The cells in flg. B contain cocoons. V, carpenter-wasp, natural 

 size. D, cocoon of a carpenter- wasp, composed of sawdust and wings of insects. 



leries in timber, and partition them out into several cells 

 by means of the gnawings of the wood which they have 

 detached. This sort of wasp is of the genus Eumenes. The 

 wood selected is generally such as is soft, or in a state of 



