INSECT HOME-BUILDERS AND THEIR TOOLS. 263 



Mr. James Eennie, " as that by whicli liuman hands 

 now manufacture it with the best aid of chemistry 

 and machinery." 



Not only do these insects make paper, but also 

 cardboard, and, anticipating the Japanese, build their 

 habitations oi papier maclie. One species of wasp in 

 South America, of whose curious nest an illustration 

 is given, manufactures a cardboard of so firm a tex- 

 ture and so smooth a surface that it can be written, 

 drawn, or painted upon like the best Bristol board ; 

 and in one respect at least it is superior to the man- 

 made article, for it is entirely waterproof. The heavi- 

 est showers fail to soften it or dampen the interior of 

 the nest it incases. 



11. 



CARPENTERS. 



The carpenters find many representatives, beside 

 the carpenter ants described in a previous chapter, 

 among the insect tribes. An English insect related to 

 our bumblebee, but differing in color, being of a dark 

 violet tint, well deserves her name of carpenter bee. 

 Selecting a suitable locality, a stump, post, or any bit 

 of timber — if a little softened by decay so much the 

 better — she proceeds to excavate her ten- or twelve- 

 storied house with more ease than a human workman 

 aided by every appliance with which modern science 

 can supply him can tunnel into the hillside. 



First entering the timber in a horizontal direction, 

 she abruptly turns and extends the passage downward 



