How Animals Work. 



segment of the abdomen formed into a long pedicle or 

 stalk, and called the Polistes Gallica, is an interesting 

 little nest-builder frequenting open spaces and woods 

 in France. In the spring-time it is a most interesting 

 sight to watch the little wasp building her nest and 

 feeding her offspring. This wasp is particularly fond 

 of attaching her nest to the straight, narrow stems of 

 the broom, which grows in the most convenient form 

 for her particular method of building, and in such 

 situations as she loves to frequent. Early in May the 

 little mother Polistes thoroughly awakens from the torpor 

 of her long winter sleep, and sets to work with great 

 vigour and perseverance upon the construction of her 

 nest. She collects fibres of bark from the neighbour- 

 ing trees, and chews them up with her strong jaws until 

 a perfectly homogeneous pulp is produced and con- 

 verted into a strong gray paper. With this material 

 mother Polistes forms a solid foundation for the nest, 

 and a strong stalk, or peduncle, which has to maintain 

 the comb. This comb is very small and never covered 

 up with protecting outer envelopes, and is subsequently 

 increased in size by the addition of new cells. These 

 nests are always placed obliquely on the plant stem to 

 which they are attached, so that the rain falls off them 

 without entering the cells; while, as a further protec- 

 tion, the larvae when about to change to the pupa stage 

 close their cells by forming a silken cocoon. 



The Armadillo Wasp, which is found in Guiana, 

 builds a most remarkable nest, its ridged exterior hav- 

 ing a fancied resemblance to the back of the animal 

 from which the wasp takes its popular name. This 

 wasp selects as its building site the straight and upright 



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