' FIREFLIES. 6l 



One of the mason-wasps found in the central province 

 builds a pocket-like nest of clay. These are often constructed 

 ■vyithin dwelling-houses, the busy little worker coming in with 

 a loud hum, bearing a pellet of clay in its jaws ; this is de- 

 posited on the edge of the work already finished, the wasp 

 getting inside the little chamber and finishing it off smoothly 

 with her antennae and fore-limbs, the loud triumphant note 

 changing to a lower one of apparent satisfaction during the 

 process of working. These nests are about two inches deep, 

 and wide enough to admit a little finger, and I frequently 

 found several of them securely fixed to the underside of the 

 unceiled rafters of my study. I believe they are filled with 

 insects as food for the young of the wasp. 



In the warmer parts of Madagascar the nights are lighted 

 up by numbers of fireflies. On the south-east coast I was 

 once lost in the woods for some time during a dark evenimr, 

 and was extremely interested with the numbers of minute 

 lamps which danced through the air and amongst the trees. 

 So brightly did a particular one shine out now and then, that 

 we were several times deceived by them, and felt sure that 

 we saw the lights of a village a few hundred yards ahead of 

 us. The light of these insects is of a greenish hue ; it is 

 not continuous, but is quenched every second or two ; as in 

 some lighthouses, the interval of darkness is a little longer 

 than the time when the light is visible. When cauQht and 

 held in the hand, the insect gives a continuous glow, and not 

 the series of flashes seen when it is flying. 



In some other orders of insects there are most interest- 

 ing forms. A mantis, closely allied to those of Africa and 

 America, goes through his seemingly devotional, but really 

 bloodthirsty, attitudes ; folding his saw-like arms, as if in 

 prayer, but in reality to strike an unwary insect. This crea- 

 ture is called by the natives famdkiWia, i.e., "headsman," 

 literally "head-breaker." It has a peculiarly weird, "un- 

 canny " look, from the large green head turning round on 

 the neck, and staring at one in a way no other insect seems 

 able to do. 



Over many portions of the central provinces great numbers 

 of ant-hills occur. These are conical mounds of a yard or 



