«S6 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



SOCIAL INSECTS. 



Nests of FOLYBIA — Cuiious method of enlargement- -Structure of the nests- 

 How concealed — Various modes of attachment — A curious specimen — The 

 Hive Bee, and claims to notice — General history of the hive — Form of the 

 cells — The royal cell, its structure and use — Uses of the ordinary cells — 

 Structure of the Bee-cell— Economy of space — How produced — Measurement 

 of angles — A logarithmic table corrected by the bee-cell — The 'lozenge,' a 

 key to the cell — How to form it — Beautiful mathematic proportions of the 

 lozenge—Method of making the cell or a model — Effect of the cell upon 

 honey — The Hornet and its nest — Its favourite locaUties — Difficulties of 

 taking a hornet's nest — Habits of the insect — Mr. Stone's method of taking 

 the nest — The Small Ermine Moth — and its ravages — Its large social 

 habitation — General habits of the larva — The Gold-tailed Moth, and its 

 beautiful social nest — Description of a specimen from Wiltshire — Illustration 

 of the theory of heat— The Brown-tailed Moth and its nest. 



Afi'er the Social Birds come the Social Insects, to which the 

 following chapter is dedicated. 



Just as the hymenoptera are chief among the pensiles and 

 the builders, so are they chief among the Social Insects, and 

 the species which may be placed in this group are so numerous, 

 that it will only be possible to make a selection of a few, which 

 seem more interesting than the others. 



In the British Museum there are some very remarkable nests 

 made by hymenopterous insects belonging to the genus Polybia^ 

 several of which are drawn in the accompanying illustration. 

 As it was desirable to include more than one specimen, the 

 figures are necessarily much reduced in size. Neither the nests 

 nor the insect, however, are of large dimensions, and the former 

 are so sombre in colour as well as small in size, that they would 

 not of themselves attract any attention. Their nests, however, 

 are extremely interesting, as may be seen from the examples 

 which are figured in the illustration. 



