THE NECTARINIA ANALIS. 287 



The Myrapetra itself is of variable size, the largest being about 

 four lines in length, and rather more than half an inch in expanse 

 of wing. It is of a dusky brown color, and is remarkable for 

 having the first joint of the abdomen very much lengthened and 

 narrowed, so that it somewhat resembles the same organ in the 

 Pelopasus. 



At the left hand of the same illustration may be seen a rather 

 large globular nest, suspended from the boughs. This nest is 

 shown in the position which it usually occupies, namely, hidden 

 in the dark recesses of the Brazilian forest, amid the varied vege- 

 tation which grows so profusely in the hot and wet parts of the 

 country which the insect frequents. 



The name of the species which makes this nest is Nectarinia 

 analis, a title which is significant and appropriate enough, but 

 which is rather unfortunate, inasmuch as it has already been ap- 

 plied to a genus of birds, the well-known honey-suckers of Africa 

 and India, which are so frequently mistaken for humming-birds, 

 on account of their small size, their brilliant plumage, their slen- 

 der beaks, and their fondness for flowers. 



This is not nearly so beautiful a nest as that which has just 

 been described, the combs being devoid of regularity, and piled 

 upon each other, as if the insect had no settled plan on which to 

 work, and put each comb in any place where there happened to 

 be room for it. Irregular, however, as the structure may seem, 

 it is not without a kind of order ; for though the combs look as if 

 they had been placed in a heap, and then rolled together, so as to 

 assume a partially spherical shape, they are at all events made 

 with the intention of forming that shape, so that they may be in- 

 cluded under a single covering. In the specimen in the British 

 Museum, the outer wall of the nest has been broken away in sev- 

 eral places, so as to permit the combs to be seen. 



The entrance for the insects is very small, and when the re- 

 spective dimensions of the wasp and the nest are taken into con- 

 sideration, it seems really wonderful that when the inhabitants 

 enter their house, they do not lose themselves in the intricate 

 windings through which they pass from one comb to another. 

 The wasp which makes this nest is bee-like in form, and very 

 small, not a quarter of an inch in length, and bearing some re- 

 semblance to those tiny solitary bees that are seen so plentifully 

 upon dandelions and various umbelliferous flowers. 



