CHAPTER VII. 



BURROWING INSECTS. 



HYMENOPTERA. 



The Sauba Ant and its habitation— Use of the "parasol" leaves — ilr. Bates 

 account of the insect — Enormous extent of the Dwelling— The Dusky Akt — 

 Its Strength and Persercrance — Man and insect Contrasted — The Brown Ant 

 — Form of its Habitation— Regulation of Temperature — Necessity of Moisture 

 — How the Ant constructs Ceilings — Mining Bees — The Andrena and its bur- 

 rowing Powers — The Euceka — Its Habitation and curious method of liberating 

 the Antennae — The Scolia, its Burrows and its Prey— The Indian Sphex and 

 its Ingenuity — The Mellinus and OxYBELUS — Curious method of Catching 

 Prey — The Piiilanthu.s, its Burrow, and the Food of its Young — The Humble 

 BuE — Its general Habits — Locality of its Dwelling — Development of the Young 

 — The Lapidary Bee, its Colours, Disposition and Habits — The Wasp — 

 Its Food and Habitation — Materials and Architecture of the Nest — Disposition, 

 Form, and Number of the Cells — Biography of a Queen Wasp, and History of 

 her Nest — Other British Wasps and their Homes — The Monedula and its 

 Prey — Boldness of the insect, and its Uses to Travellers — The Bembex — Its 

 energetic Habits, its Food, and Mode of Storing the Nest. 



The burrowing Insects now come before our notice. 



Of these creatures there is much store, for, indeed, the greater 

 number of insects are wholly or entirely biirrowers at some 

 period of their existence. It frequently happens that the very 

 insects which we most admire, which are decorated with the most 

 brilliant colours, and which soar on the most ethereal wings, 

 have passed the greater portion of their lives as burrowers 

 beneath the surface of the earth. 



Take, for example, the well-known Mayfly, or Ephemera, so 

 called because its existence was once thought to be comprised 

 within the limits of a single day. How delicate are its gauzy 

 wings ; how wonderful are the iridescent tints which play over 

 their surface with a changeful radiance, like that of the opal or 

 the pigeon's neck ; and how marvellous is the muscular power 

 which enables the new-born being to disport itself in the air for a 

 period which, in comparison with our own lives, is equal to at 



