362 Insect Architecture. 



[Fig. 3 shows the nest of Anthidium cordatum, one of the 

 solitary bees of Natal. It is made of vegetable fibres. The 

 insect as well as the nest is represented of the natural size. 

 It is black and shining, with the under part and sides and 

 legs yellowish. 



[At Fig. 4 are seen three of the nests of Trypoxylon auri- 

 frons, a Brazilian insect. They are built of mud, and are 

 remarkable for their elegant shape, which looks as if it had 

 been formed by the hand of the potter, and for the manner 

 in which the mouth is turned over so as to form a distinct 

 neck. The larvae is fed with a store of spiders. The insect 

 is represented of the natural size ; its colour is black, and 

 the face is covered with short golden hairs, a fact which 

 has gained for it the name of aurifrons, or golden-fronted. 



[Our last example, Fig. 5, is the nest of an English insect, 

 Eumenes coarctata. The insect is represented of its natural size . 

 It is very pretty in colour as well as elegant in shape, being 

 black, diversified with yellow bands and spots. The nest is 

 made of clay, and is found upon the heath twigs. The larvae 

 of the Eumenes are fed with those of a species of Crambus. 

 The insect is tolerably common in Surrey and Hampshire, 

 and appears in July and August. 



[The three figures in the next illustration represent the 

 cocoons of three species of the Bombycidae, and are given in 

 order to show the different modes by which they are fastened. 

 The upper nest is hung by a slight cord, which spreads into a 

 broad silken band wrapped round the branch for some dis- 

 tance. The right-hand figure shows a very remarkable 

 cocoon suspended by a long footstalk affixed to a ring. 

 The remarkable point in the construction of this ring is 

 that it is very hard and horny, and is not fastened to the 

 branch, but passes loosely round it, so that the cocoon swings 

 backwards and forwards in the breeze. The cocoon is about 

 two inches in length, and is covered with thick black veinings. 

 The lowermost cocoon is most curiously fixed to the branch 

 by bending the leaves round the exterior of the dwelling, and 

 fixing them to it with silk. All these specimens were 

 brought from Northern India.] 



