171 
Stenogaster varipictus Rohwer. 
Length 14mm.; brown, with pale yellow markings. 
This is not a rare forest insect—that is, if it be rightly looked 
for—since it is by no means conspicuous and usually nests in 
rather inaccessible places. Ina small way, it seems to be a social 
wasp; one to several insects attend to a cell group. It may be, 
however, that each female has her own lot of cells in this cell 
group. We usually find several nests in one place, such as on 

Fig. 102. Nest of S. var- 
Fig. 101. Nest of S. varipictus pictus, with cells sealed 
on the bark of a tree, X 1. by mother wasp, X 1. 
the smooth and somewhat overhanging side of the trunk of a 
large forest tree, on the overhang of boulders, especially when 
these are more or less surrounded by water, or they may even 
be fixed along the underside of green leaves, and one small nest 
so located had its sheltering leaf constantly struck by water drip- 
ping slowly from the bank above, much to the annoyance of tue 
proprietress. 
The nest (Figs. 101 and 102) consists of one or more rows of 
fragile cells, their mouths pointing downwards, and the object to 
which they are attached serving as part of their sides. The cell 
material appears to consist of fine grains of sandy mud mixed 
perhaps with particles of decayed wood. I did not witness nest- 
building, but the structures show that the cells may be built 
from either side of the row, of which there may be as many as 
four; the lowest being first made and the succeeding ones 
built partly on the bottom ends of the preceding. There may be 
thirty or more cells to a nest and one consisting of 16 cells had 
two wasp attendants. 
The egg is glued to the bottom of the cell; it may be placed in 
a partially completed one or in one which has already hatched a 
wasp. The larva is broad, arcuate and yellowish white. When 
it is full-fed the mother seals up the cell. It does not appear to 
