PASTEBOARD WASP. 261 



nest of the Chartergus is about one foot in length and of propor- 

 tionate width, a few being found of larger dimensions and many 

 of smaller. Xow and then a positive giant of a nest is dis- 

 covered where the colony has not only been undisturbed, but 

 surrounding circumstances liavc been favourable to its continued 

 increase. The name Chartergus is derived from two Greek 

 words, signifying paper-maker. 



One of the largest, if not the very largest of these pasteboard 

 nests that has yet been discovered, was found in Ceylon, attached 

 to the inside of a huge palm-leaf, and was of the astonishing lengtli 

 of six feet. Now, to form an idea of a nest six feet in length is not 

 very easy. It is as easy to write the words six feet as six inches, 

 but the idea which is to be conveyed is another matter, the 

 cubical measurement being absolutely enormous. 



The gigantic wasp's nest which has lately been described is 

 so conspicuous an object that, although it is only a little more 

 than three feet in length, no one can enter the room without 

 noticing it. But a nest six feet in length is so huge as scarcely 

 to be credited except from actual sight. Such a nest could 

 hardly be taken through an ordinary doorway, and there are few 

 houses of the modern build which could receive it into any 

 room except through the window after both sashes have been 

 removed. We all know how conspicuous among ordinary men 

 is one who measures six feet in height, and we shall form a 

 better idea of the nest in question, if we reckon it to be equal in 

 length to a " six-foot " man, and of course to occupy much more 

 space, on account of its boll-like shape. 



Mr. Westwood mentions the nest of an allied species of wasp, 

 which is about eight inches in diameter, and is so hard and 

 smooth on the exterior, that it almost seems to be made of 

 pottery instead of vegetable fibre. This nest is in the museum 

 of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. 



I HAVE already mentioned that there are many genera of nest- 

 making insects, whose habitations are in some degree similar, and 

 yet present such salient points of difference that they must be 

 classed under different heads. Such, for example, is the strange 

 genus Polistes, which is spread over a large portion of the globe, 

 and which makes so singular a variety of nests. However 

 different they may be, there is always one point of union among 



