176 
and is seldom quiet for any length of time. Often two males will 
meet in mid-air to indulge in peculi ar vertical gyrations—a sort 
of loop-the-loop. Occasionally one meets with a specimen with 
large anthers glued to the back of the head. The males usually 
occur in small groups. Though doubtless more partial to bright 
forest weather, the wasp works and plays during dull days and 
even in light rain. 
A British Museum guide catalogue figures two Stenogaster 
(Ischnogaster) nests from Java, arid ihe: larger one exactly re- 
sembles that of S. micans. After describing J. eximius of Ceylon, 
Bingham (1890) quotes Mr. FE. E. Green, who sent him a few of 
the nests, which resemble those of S. micans var., as follows: 
“Each nest seems to be the property of one pair only. It is a low- 
country insect. * * * My friend (Mr. John Pole, a very accurate 
observer) assures me he has repeatedly seen this same species, 
and no other, associated with these nests. * * * Mr. Pole 
writes of the wasps: ‘Their habit seems to be to remain in the 
opening, using the lacework at the bottom as spyholes.’ 
J. nigrifrons of Burma constructs “a social many-celled nest, 
tier above tier,’ as the allied /. melleyi is stated to do by de 
Saussure. 
