190 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALlAxV IxN'SECTS. 



stratified appearance when it was broken across, 

 and was about half an inch thick. There was a 

 beautifully formed entrance in the shape of a 

 funnel. 



The genus Eitmenes is another of the mason 

 wasps, and builds mud cells. Fabre records a curi- 

 ous habit of some species of these wasps, that of 

 suspending an ^gg from a slender thread which 

 is fastened to the roof of the cell (Plate 23, Fig. i, a.) 

 Thus it is thought by some that the ^gg is pro- 

 tected from any movement on the part of the cater- 

 pillars which are stored in the cell ; for many of 

 the eumenid wasps do not seem able to sting their 

 victims so effectually as do the fossores. The little 

 baby-wasp grub hatches out and stretches down 

 to the nearest caterpillar. It pupates within its 

 cocoon, and later on, the adult,' a gay black and 

 orange wasp, emerges to carry on the life history 

 of its kind, unless it becomes a victim of insect 

 enemies, human collectors, or other accidents. 



Another Australian genus is Odynerus. Froggatt 

 says : "This genus contains a number of small thick- 

 set wasps, that make clay nests of various shapes ; 

 sometimes very delicate in structure, forming a 

 finger-shaped row of clay cells or rounded cup- 

 shaped chambers ; while some species make use of 

 a hole in the wood or wall and simply coat it over 

 v.'ith clay. Australia is rich in the species, some of 

 which have a very wide range." 



These nests frequently contain parasites. In one 

 nest we found the cocoon of two different specie-? 

 of parasitic flies and of a parasitic wasp. 



