254 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



of its nest, employing horse-dung for that purpose, and fixing its 

 home either on the stems of reeds, at some distance from the 

 ground, or on the spiny trunks of certain palms. There are also 

 ants which form their nests from vegetable hairs ; such as the 

 Formica molestans, which employs extremely minute hairs, and 

 makes with them a nearly globular nest, which is placed in the 

 petioles and vesicles of different plants. 



We now proceed to the third figure in the illustration, placed 

 upon the tree near the centre. This represents the remarkable 

 nest of Abi^a Ephippium, an Australian insect, belonging to 

 the wasp tribe. 



The nest is not very large, being about three or four inches in 

 diameter, and rather more in height, exclusive of the entrance- 

 tunneL The material is clay, kneaded and masticated by the 

 insect until perfectly plastic, and then moulded into a very 

 remarkable form. 



The exterior view of the nest presents a curious outline, shotr- 

 ing the pipe through which the insect enters, and which reminds 

 the observer of the tube constructed by several pensile birds. 

 Strange as is the external appearance of the nest, a longitudinal 

 section shows a still more extraordinary construction of the 

 interior. The tube does not merely act as an entrance, but is 

 carried about an inch into the interior of the nest, possibly in 

 order to prevent the young insects from falling out before they 

 are fit to cope with the world. The bottom of the nest through 

 which it passes is nearly flat, and the whole shape of the edifice 

 is not unlike a large clay thimble, with the opening closed by a 

 circular flat cake of hard mud. 



Attached to the ceiling of the nest is a single layer of cells, 

 arranged without any particular order or regularity ; and it is a 

 curious fact, that only a single wasp has been observed in the 

 act of building the nests, or making the interior arrangement. 



This is not the only insect that makes entrance tubes to its 

 nests; for the Trypoxylon aurifrons, a native of the Amazons, 

 has been noticed to build similar entrances, though much 

 shorter. This insect will be again mentioned, under the head of 

 Builders. 



In the accompanying illustration may be seen two specimens 



