90 INSECTS ABROAD. 



nest maintains its place in spite of its weight and the tossing 

 which it undergoes in windy weather. The honey is not de- 

 posited in continuous combs like those of the domestic bee, but 

 in separate cells ot "honey-pots." The wax is first formed into 



i . strings about as thick as crow-quills, 



and made into a sort of loose net- 

 work, in the interstices of which the 

 oval honey-pots are fixed, with their 

 mouths upwards. The wax is of dark 

 yellow-brown colour, much like that 



a . — 



of old leather. There is a good speei- 

 Vxo. «.— Bracbypepius auritua. nien in the British Museum, where 



the Trigonas {Trigona carbonaria of 

 New Holland) have deserted their usual trees and taken pos- 

 session of an old box, which thev have half filled with their 

 curious combs. 



Within this nest is found the Brachypeplus, scattered among 

 the sponge-like congeries of honey-pots and network. Its colour 

 is very much like that of the wax, being reddish black, the 

 former colour predominating around the edges of the body. The 

 name Brachypeplus is formed from the Greek word signifying 

 " short tunic," and is given to the insect on account of its very 

 short elytra. The specific name auritus, or " eared," refers to the 

 two ear-like projections from the head, which, as in all the 

 Nitidulida?, is deeply sunk in the thorax. 



