494 INSECTS ABROAD. 



to shipping. One was taken in a house at Penzance, and traced 

 to a ship which had just come from Brazil. The captain said 

 that great numbers of the " flies " had appeared on board, and 

 annoyed the sailors by their stings. Another specimen was 

 taken in the docks at Liverpool, and all the specimens were 

 sent to Mr. F. Smith, in whose collection they now are. This 

 species is Polistcs biguttatus. 



The following account of an Indian species, Polistcs Hcbrccus, 

 is given by Mr. Home : — 



" This insect, which is generally known to residents in India 

 as the ' Yellow Wasp,' is a great nuisance. It is very partial to 

 verandahs, and builds its cells on a roof-beam. More often, 

 however, it selects trees near houses, and, if not disturbed, builds 

 enormous nests, continuing year after year in the same place, 

 deserting great parts of its comb as they become useless from 

 age, and building others near to the old ones. The food of this 

 insect is of a very general character, and it dearly loves sugar 

 in any form. 



" It has an unpleasant habit of either flying at you if irritated, 

 stinging you as it touches, and then flying on without stopping, 

 or falling from above upon you and performing the same trick. 

 I am told by a friend that the English hornet does the same 

 thing. In the case of the Indian Polistes, however, the sting is 

 not very severe. 



"They sometimes select the oddest places for their combs. 

 On one occasion I was moving some tin boxes, when about 

 thirty flew out of one of them at me ; and I found their comb in 

 a corner inside. They had obtained access through the open 

 window of the store-room. I have often observed the commence- 

 ment of a comb. 



" In the month of November the females newly hatched sit 

 out on sunny days on the tops of Venetian doors and similar 

 situations, and buzz for males. Nor do they wait long ; for at 

 this season the whole verandah swarms with these Polistes, and 

 I have had thousands of them killed in a morning. Haying 

 met with a suitable partner, the ova appear to be impregnated ; 

 and not long after, the queen, fully prepared, sets to and builds 

 a single cell on a stout footstalk, lays an egg in it, and proceeds 

 to build three or four more around it, in each of which she lays 

 an egg. 



