73 



CHAPTER VII. 



BURROWING INSECTS. 



HYMENOPTERA. 



The SaUba Ant and its habitation — Use of the ' parasol ' leaves — Mr. Bates' 

 account of the insect — Enormous extent of the Dwelling — The Dusky Ant 

 —Its Strength and Perseverance— Man and Insect Contrasted— The Brown- 

 Ant — Form of its Habitation — Regulation of Temperature — Necessity of 

 Moisture — Hov*r the Ant constructs Ceilings — Mining Bees — The Andrena 

 and its burrowing Powers — The SCOLIA, its Burrows and its Prey — The 

 Humble Bee — Its general Habits — Locahty of its Dwelling — Development 

 of the Young — The Lapidary Bee, its Colours, Disposition and Habits — 

 The Wasp — Its Food and Habitation — Materials and Architecture of the 

 Nest —Disposition, Form, and Number of the Cells — Biography of a Queen 

 Wasp, and History of her Nest. 



The burrowing Insects now come before our notice. 



Were this work to be arranged according to the rigid systems 

 of zoological schoohnen, the hst of burrowing insects must have 

 been headed by the beetles ; but, as the subject of the book is 

 to describe the peculiar dwellings which are needful for the 

 welfare of various animals, a different arrangement is necessary, 

 so that a well-built home takes precedence over a well- 

 developed animal. If we wish to select an order of insects 

 which surpasses every other in the variety and excellence of 

 their burrows, we turn at once to the Hymenoptera, a large 

 and important group of insects, which includes the wasps, bees, 

 ants, sawflies, ichneumons, and one or two other families. The 

 greater number of these insects burrow in the ground; but 

 others are remarkable for their wonderful powers of excavating 

 the hardest wood, and of forming therein a series of beautifully 

 made cells, for the protection of the future brood. 



Turn we first to some exotic Ants which inhabit tropical 

 America. 



