582 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



At first sight it looks as if the winged architect had intended 

 to make a cell-group like that of the Icaria, and had been brought 

 abruptly to a conclusion. A close inspection, however, shows 

 that the structure is intentional, and not merely the result of 

 accident. The cells are all placed with their mouths downwards, 

 and are set in a very peculiar manner. 



In the Icaria nests the cells are arranged so as to form a more 

 or less elongated mass, widest in the middle and tapering to the 

 end, the variation in width being caused by the different arrange- 

 ment of the cells, which are two deep at the commencement, 

 reach three or four deep at the middle, and are reduced at the 

 end to a single row of cells. But in the nest of the Polistes aU 

 the cells are two deep, being arranged in two regular rows. 



On reference to the illustration, which is exactly one-half the 

 length of the original specimen, the reader will see that the 

 cells are of different sizes, and might, therefore, fancy that the 

 upper or larger cells are those which nurture the larvae that are 

 destined to be perfect males and females, and that the lower or 

 smaller cells are intended for the workers or neuters. But a 

 careful examination shows that such a supposition would not 

 be correct. It is true that the upper cells are larger than the 

 lower, but this increase of size is simply owing to the fact 

 that they are completed, while the five lower cells are still un- 

 finished. 



The attention of the reader is particularly called to the dark 

 bars which are at regular intervals across the cells. These are 

 not merely intended to represent effects of light and shade, nor 

 to show that the little architect has used materials of different 

 colours so as to form alternate bands ; but each dark line repre- 

 sents a distinct and well-marked ridge, and each ridge is evi- 

 dently the result of an addition made to the cell. 



Here, then, we have a clue to the manuer in which the insect 

 builds its curious home. The cells at the iipper part of the nest 

 were originally in the same unfinished state as those at the 

 lower extremity. The insect made a moderately deep cell, laid 

 an egg therein, and then proceeded to lay the foundation of other 

 cells, placing an egg in each. 



"When, however, she has formed the third or fourth cell, the 

 eggs in the first and second chambers have been hatched into 

 larvse, and need to be fed. So, the mother insect has now to 



