40 



TiMEHRI. 



its pugnacity. On nearly every Sugar Plantanion " kill- 

 ing marabuntas under bridges" is a cv^mmon item in the 

 Weekly Pay List. 



In their manner of reprodu6lion the Polistidge present 

 us with a very remarkable phenomenon. It has been 

 proved that one se : of females produce ova \/hich give 

 rise to female insefc\s only ; these without fecundation 

 lay eggs producing only males, thus constituting a division 

 of physiological labour, technically known as partheno- 

 genesis^ or virgin reprodu6tion. This phenomenon has 

 been noticed in other insefts as well, but we believe it 

 was first observed in those of which we are now speaking. 



Another of oui: native wasps builds a nest of so hard 

 and polished a :^ubstance, that a cardboard maker to 

 whom Reaumur showed a portion, mistook it for the 

 genuine article, and eveiv declared it to be the produ6l of 

 a certain manufa itory in France. 



There is also o be found here a species of the uphol- 

 sterer bee, whici, unlike most of its tribe, forms no 

 burrow in the ground for its nest of leaves, but fixes it 

 instead on the cutside of bird's nests, inter acing the 

 leaves among the fibres ana twigs of which they are com- 

 posed. We have never seen the inse£l itse f, but the 

 nests are constru6led exactly on the same principle as 

 those of the European upholsterer bee. 



The genus Mclipona, which is peculiar to this part of 

 the world, comprises some very small stingless bees. 

 Although producing honej' they do not store it away in 

 combs of neatly made cells as in the true honey bees, 

 but form large globular vesicles of blackish wax, in which 

 to store the honey and pollen. The honey produced 

 by some of the species is really very good, while that 



