370 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



were almost totally destroyed, and that without the slightest ex- 

 ternal trace of any damage. The Termites had reached the boxes 

 in which these documents were preserved by mining the wain- 

 scoting, and they had then leisurely set to work to devour these 

 administrative records, carefully respecting the upper sheets and 

 the margin of each leaf, so that a box which was only a mass of 

 rubbish seemed to contain a pile of papers in perfect order." 



In the British Museum are several examples of the ravages 

 worked by Termites, one of which is an ordinary beam that has 

 been so completely hollowed and eaten away that nothing remains 

 but a mere shell no thicker than the wood of a bandbox. 



Besides the species which were investigated by M. de Quatre- 

 fages, there are others in the south of France, and in Sardinia and 

 Spain. One species, Terrn.es Jiavicollis, chiefly attacks and destroys 

 the olives, while in the Landes and Gironde the oaks and firs are 

 killed by another species, Termes lucifugus. 



As the limits of this work preclude a very lengthened account 

 of any one creature, our history of the Termites must here be con- 

 cluded, although much interesting matter remains unwritten. 



In the accompanying illustration are shown two nests, the two 

 upper specimens on the right hand having been already described. 

 They are made by the little spider called Agelena brunnea, and 

 their history will be found on page 321. 



The two lower nests are made by a species of solitary wasp, 

 which has no popular name, but is known to entomologists as 

 Eumenes coarctata. It is not a large insect, the females being 

 only half an inch in length, and the male rather smaller. The 

 general color is black, with a fine velvet-like pile on the abdo- 

 men, and relieved by lines and spots of yellow. The abdomen 

 is small, and set on a rather short and pear-shaped footstalk, as 

 may be seen by the illustration, which represents the insect of its 

 natural size. 



This is one of the species which are tolerably common in cer- 

 tain localities, but, as they are very local, may be reckoned among 

 the varieties. Mr. F. Smith, in his " Catalogue of the British Ves- 

 pidas," mentions that it has been taken in several parts of Hamp- 

 shire, Berkshire, near Weybridge, and has been found plentifully 

 at Sunninghill. Probably the rarity or frequency of this species, 

 as is the case with many others, depends greatly on the eyes 

 which look after it. 



