252 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov, 1, 1865. 



either side about lialf-way down. The elytra or 

 wiug-cases are marked on the surface by ten punc- 

 tated lines, which commence at the upper edge and 

 unite before reaching the opposite extremity. 



SHUKnxiK-ooL-ASHXJE, or Shuhhur teeghal, is a 

 very similar substance, and consists of the nests of 

 just such another little beetle. In this instance the 

 country of production is India, where the cases are 

 known by the Arabic names already given; they are 

 far from common, but are collected by the natives 

 and employed as a kind of manna. The plant on 

 which they are found is the Mudar or Ashur 

 {Calotropis gigantea, and probably allied species), 

 whence the name " Sugar of the Ashur" is derived. 



Fig-. 2. Shukhur-otjl-asliur. 



Dr. Pcoyle, in his " Himalayan Botany," says of it : 

 " This is a sweetish exudation formed on the plant, 

 in consequence of the puncture of an insect called 

 Gultlgal." With but little modification this para- 

 graph has been repeated by subsequent authors, aud 

 is almost the whole knowledge we have possessed 

 of this substance or its fabricator. Having obtained 

 specimens of the ShukJmr from India, I succeeded 

 in discovering one of the beetles still enclosed in 

 its case, all the other cases being empty. This 

 insect, with its nidus, I submitted to Mr. Smith, of 

 the British Museum, for identification, and he has 

 declared it to be the species known as Larium iirsus 

 of Eabricius. It may now, therefore, be affirmed 

 with confidence that the sweetish cases, or " sugar," 

 of the Calotropis is the nidus of a small beetle 

 known in Arabic as GuUigal (which, being inter- 

 preted, appears to mean "flower-nest"), and to 

 entomologists as Larinus urstis. It is very much 

 like the insect which produces the Trehala, as also 

 is its nidus (see fig. 2) ; although I am not prepared 

 to affirm that both are in reality the same species, 

 under diiferent names, but should rather be disposed 

 to regard them as distinct. 



PooNYET. — Whilst upon this subject of " Insect- 

 homes," I cannot resist adverting to another singular 



substance, which is found in Burmah, and called 

 Pwai-ngyet or Poonyet. It is a blackish resin, 

 channelled with little chambers or cells, by some 

 species of Dammar-bee, and is found in holes in the 

 ground, and in hollow trees. This resin, or wax, is 

 employed by the Burmese for caulking boats, and 

 is constantly on sale in the bazaars. The resin 

 which I have seen under this name is slightly fra- 

 grant, and apparently identical with that of Canarium 

 strictum, the honey-combed structure alone ex- 

 cepted. The latter resin is common in Travancore, 

 in Southern India, aud Mr. J. Brown, of Trevan- 

 drum, says that it exudes from cuts in the trunk of 



Fig. 3, Dammar-bee (upper figure magnified). 



the tree, and seems to be a great favorite of several 

 species of insect, especially of one resembling a bee, 

 called by the Hilimen Kulliada, which live in pairs 

 in holes in the ground. It is singular that the same 

 tree is common in Malacca, where it yields a black 

 resin, and there also is found a honey-combed resin, 

 which the natives call " Dammar Ivlotee," and which 

 is said to resemble the Pwai-ngyet, although the cells 

 are larger, and the resin blacker and harder. This 

 substance I do not remember to have seen. Dr. 

 Mason, of Rangoon, states that he forwarded some 

 specimens of the insect which produces the Burmese 

 Pwai-ngyet to Mr. F. Smith, and that he identified 

 them with Trigona Iceviceps, which had been first 

 received from Singapore. The conclusion, therefore, 

 at which I have arrived, is to the effect that the 

 "honey-combed resin" of Pegu and Burmah is the 

 natural resin which exudes from the bark of the 

 Black Dammar tree {Canarium strictum), chamielled 

 and perforated by the insect known in Southern 

 India as Kulliada, and which is also found at Singa- 

 pore, as well as in Pegu and Burmah, and recognized 

 by entomologists as Trigona IcBciceps, but whether 

 the resin is perforated in its soft state, soon after it 

 issues from the tree, or, if after it becomes hard, 

 how the feat is accomplished, is more than I am at 

 present able to affirm. Perhaps some correspondent 

 who resides near one of the localities indicated will 

 institute enquiries, and render our information more 

 complete respecting the economy of the Dammar 

 Bee. M, 0. Cooke, 



A SINGLE female house-fly produces 20,080,330 

 eggs in one season. 



