232 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, ’o8 
places, which bear evidence that our insect novice still retained 
some of its “old fogy notions” by its efforts to excavate a tun- 
nel for its home, in each of these decayed places, and abandoned 
them by reason of the silicified layers intervening between the 
annual growths, which are peculiar to this particular variety of 
wood, and which cause much trouble and annoyance to the 
manufacturer. What our little novice lacked in botanical wis- 
dom it made up by experience, and we can imagine that, though 
it was thoroughly disgusted with its failure it still retained the 
proverbial “grit” of this family of insects, by the ready man- 
ner it adapted the mechanical groove in the block of wood to 
its own purposes. It now appears that our little novice made 
the best of its environments, and enlarged its plans in advance 
of any of its kind by planning a larger and more magnificient 
domicile, and proceed to divide up its newly acquired premises 
into twelve rooms and cells, neatly partitioned off with mud. 
In Comstock’s Manual for the Study of Insects, page 658 is 
illustrated a nest of this insect, composed of five cells, but in 
this case, it was a home built with its own hands (?) and exer- 
tion—hence it did not feel equal to, or had no desire, pro- 
vide a larger or more commodius domicile, as did the subject 
of this sketch. 
Later in the season when a workman had occasion to take 
some material from this pile of lumber, in lifting the block 
containing this interesting specimen he discovered the peculiar 
and new form, and consulted the writer as to its identity. 
The block being separated from the smooth plain surface 
of the plank below, exhibited a very perfect cross-section view 
of the nest containing the live pupae, and each pupa suspended 
in fine web so that it did not come in contact at any point 
with the walls of its cell, and no visible remains of food ma- 
terial with which the cells were first stored. The pupae are 
exactly, in shape and appearance like a very slender medicine 
capsule filled with a dark chocolate colored material and cap- 
ped with white. 
Thus, in many ways the interesting insect world contributes 
to the curiosity and wonder of the human kind. 
