596 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



queens, the smallest those which are the nurseries of the worker 

 bees, and the intermediate cells those in which the drones or males 

 are hatched. 



If we examine the nest of the common wasp or hornet, we still 

 find the cells of various sizes, corresponding with the sexes and 

 uses of the occupants ; and if we look at that of any species of 

 humble-bee, the same fact is clearly perceptible. But in the nests 

 of the Icarias and similar insects no such variation is discovera- 

 ble, and no distinction can be found between the male and fe- 

 male cells. The natural question therefore arises, whether all 

 the members of each brood, or rather each cell group, are of the 

 same sex; or whether one nest produces males and another fe- 

 males, just as one portion of the comb is given to males, another 

 to females, and another to neuters, in the case of the hive-bee ? 

 No matter how large may be the nest of an Icaria, or how full 

 of cells it may be, the cells are all so alike in shape and size 

 that they must apparently be the cradles of insects belonging to 

 the same sex. 



This fact is curiously brought out in a remarkable series of 

 cell groups which have been placed on a single leaf, some of 

 which are shown in the lower part of the illustration. The leaf 

 is rather long, and, being dry, is now curved by its own force. 

 This leaf seems to have possessed some fascination for the Icarias, 

 as upon the upper surface no less than fifteen nests have been 

 established, none of great length, and all nearly or quite com- 

 pleted. In none are the cells perfectly straight, all having a 

 slight curve downward on account of the delicate material of 

 which they are made. 



The insect which builds these curious cells is a commonplace- 

 looking creature, of a soft grayish-brown color, with a moderately 

 large head and a little rounded abdomen, not very unlike the 

 Gynips KoUari, which has already been described. It is a native 

 of India, and the nests which have been mentioned were sent 

 from Bareilly. 



There is also a nest made by an allied insect belonging to the 

 genus Sphex, and coming, as far as is known, from the same lo- 

 cality. As in the preceding case, the habitation is placed in the 

 hollow of a leaf, which has either curled in the process of wither- 

 ing, or has been bent by the insect and retained in its cylindrical 

 form by silken threads. On inspecting the nest it is seen to con- 



