510 Saw-flies, Gall-flies, Ichneumons, 



"The combs, unlike those of the honey-bee, are laid horizontally, stage 

 below stage, each hanging from the one immediately above it, without any 

 reference to the rest of the series. The two or three uppermost stages of 

 comb, into which the first rudimentary cells have been expanded, are, in 

 course of time, worked into the case of the nest at their edges. And the 

 cells are cut down to allow room for the wasps to camp on the upper surface 

 of the comb beneath. Wasps do not stand cold and wet, so a shelter is 

 here provided for them, where they may be kept dry and warm, without 

 interfering with the comfort and safety of the larvae in the lower stages. Inci- 

 dentally another advantage is gained by this arrangement. For the fabric 

 of the nest is thus materially strengthened, by substituting, at this vital point, 

 a hard, dry, light flooring for the loose, damp comb, which is almost ready 

 to fall to pieces by its own weight. 



"When a new stage is to be constructed, the wasps begin by raising the 

 walls of two or three adjoining cells in the center of the lowest comb. From 

 these diverging roots a round cord is drawn out, as it were, on the end of 

 which little cells are made, just as on the end of the footstalk from which 

 the nest originally sprung. As each cell takes shape an egg is deposited in it, 

 so as to lose no time; and while its walls are gradually rising the comb is 

 gradually spreading, by concentric rings of cells. The mother wasp follows 

 close on the traces of the worker, and the circles of larvae of the same age 

 show the system on which the comb has been made. As the comb spreads, 

 new stays are let down to support the weight increasing with the width. 

 Meanwhile the expansion of the case keeps exact pace with the lateral growth 

 of the comb; the old case is nibbled away within, and new paper is laid 

 on outside, so as to make room all around the edge. And before each stage 

 has attained its full dimensions, another has been commenced below it, 

 just in the same manner." 



BEES. 



In popular repute there are just two kinds of bees, honey-bees and bumble- 

 bees. Actually there is a host of kinds, many of them small and hardly 

 noticeable, and perhaps even when seen mistaken for other insects. Still, 

 all the bees have such a "bee-y" manner and general appearance that such 

 mistakes can only be made by the most casual of observers. There are indeed 

 a few slender-bodied small bees that suggest wasp more than bee perhaps 

 in general seeming; and there are not a few kinds of flies (Diptera), espe- 

 cially the flower-flies (Syrphidae), bee-flies (Bombyliidae), and certain robber- 

 flies (Asilidae) that resemble bees quite sufficiently to be often mistaken for 

 them. Careful inspection will quickly reveal the deception, by showing 

 the presence of but a single pair of wings on all these bee-mimicking flies. 



