286 TROPICAL NATURE 



cutting ant in America will thus explain why these specially 

 modified plants are so much more abundant there than in the 

 Old World, where no ants with equally destructive habits 

 appear to exist. 



Wasps and Bees 



These insects are excessively numerous in the tropics, and, 

 from their large size, their brilliant colours, and their great 

 activity, they are sure to attract attention. Handsomest of 

 all, perhaps, are the Scoliadae, whose large and rather broad 

 hairy bodies, often two inches long, are richly banded with 

 yellow or orange. The Pompilidae comprise an immense 

 number of large and handsome insects, with rich blue-black 

 bodies and wings and exceedingly long legs. They may often 

 be seen in the forests dragging along large spiders, beetles, or 

 other insects they have captured. Some of the smaller 

 species enter houses and build earthen cells, which they store 

 with small green spiders rendered torpid by stinging, to feed 

 the larvae. The Eumenidae are beautiful wasps with very 

 long pedunculated bodies, which build papery cones covering 

 a few cells in which the eggs are deposited. Among the bees 

 the Xylocopas, or wood -boring bees, are remarkable. They 

 resemble large humble-bees, but have broad, flat, shining 

 bodies, either black or banded with blue ; and they often bore 

 large cylindrical holes in the posts of houses. True honey- 

 bees are chiefly remarkable in the East for their large semi- 

 circular combs suspended from the branches of the loftiest 

 trees without any covering. From these exposed nests large 

 quantities of wax and honey are obtained, while the larvae 

 afford a rich feast to the natives of Borneo, Timor, and other 

 islands where bees abound. They are very pugnacious, and, 

 when disturbed will follow the intruders for miles, stinging 

 severely. 



Orthoptera and other Insects 



Next to the butterflies and ants, the insects that are most 

 likely to attract the attention of the stranger in the tropics 

 are the various forms of Mantidse and Phasmidae, some of 

 which are remarkable for their strange attitudes and bright 

 colours ; while others are among the most singular of known 

 insects, owing to their resemblance to sticks and leaves. The 



