ICARIAS. 



579 



dwelling, their babitation is extremely large, often enveloping 

 several branches together -with their twigs and leaves. Like the 

 nest of the gold-tailed moth, it is divided into chambers, and is 

 externally irregular in form, depending entirely for its shape 

 upon the locality in which it is constructed. 



Even in this country it is sometimes plentiful enough to 

 annoy the farmer, who does not like to see his hedgerows dis- 

 figured by the silken tents spun by these caterpillars ; but in 

 France it has occurred in such hosts as to entail a serious loss 

 upon the agriculturist, whole rows of trees having been stripped 

 of their leaves, and the denuded branches covered with the 

 sheets of web in which lay the destroying armies. 



On the accompanying illustration may be seen a number of 

 curious nests, composed of long hexagonal cells, set side by 

 side. These are made by several species of a hymenopterous 

 insect belonging to the genus Icaria, and may be advantageously 

 compared with the central figure in the illustration on page 570. 



These nests, or rather these series of cells, are made after 

 a singular fashion. First, the insect attaches to the branch a 

 footstalk composed of the same material as that with which tlie 

 cells are formed. This footstalk, although slender, is very hard, 



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