158 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



mass, leaving only a small interval between them, so that it 

 forms part of a hollow sphere, and a section of it would present 

 a form like that of the capital letter C laid on its back. 



The rest of the combs follow in regular order, the curve of 

 each becoming shallower, until the last is but slightly depressed 

 in the centre. They are carried to the sides of the nest and 

 thereto attached, except in a few places, where an open space 

 is left between the edge of the comb and the side of the nest, 

 so as to allow the wasps to have access to the different tiers of 

 cells. As is the case with most of the wasp tribe, the tiers are 

 single, and the mouths of the combs are all downwards. 



The depth of the cells, and consequently the thickness of the 

 combs, varies according to their position in the nest, the upper 

 cells being the largest, and those below the smallest. The longest 

 cells are from five to seven lines in length, and the shortest, 

 about two lines. The material of which they are made is the 

 same as that of which the exterior is formed, and is of quite as 

 dark a colour. In texture, however, it is much slighter, being 

 very thin and paper-like. These cells extend to the very edges 

 of the combs, of which there are fourteen in the present speci- 

 men. The length of the nest is sixteen inches, and its diameter 

 in the widest part is one foot. 



In the upper combs was discovered a quantity of honey, which, 

 when it was found, was hard and dry, of a deep brownish-red, 

 and without either taste or scent. De Azara mentions that him- 

 self and some of his men ate the honey of the Myrapetra, and 

 that it was of a deleterious character. Another species of honey- 

 making wasp, Polistes Licheguana, a native of Brazil, was dis- 

 covered by M. St. Hilaire, who mentions that it lays up in the 

 nest a large provision of honey, which is very injurious to man- 

 kind, on account of the poisonous plants from which it is taken. 

 Polistes gallica also fills its cells with honey, which, however, 

 does not seem to be poisonous. 



Within the nest were found also the remains of insects. 

 There was the body of a black fly, which belongs or is aUied to 

 the genus Bibio^ and the remains of a neuropterous insect, which 

 apparently belongs to the genus Henurobius. 



I 



