WASPS AND BEES. 



91 



be seen in the forests dragging along large spiders, 

 beetles, or other insects tbey have captured. Some of 

 the smaller species enter houses and build earthen cells 

 which thej store with small green spiders rendered 

 torpid by stinging, to feed the larvae. The Eumenidae 

 are beautiful wasps with very long pedunculated bodies, 

 which build papery cones covering a few cells in which 

 the eggs are deposited. Among the bees the Xylocopas, 

 or wood-boring bees, are remarkable. They resemble 

 large humble-bees, but have broad, flat, shining bodies, 

 either black or banded with blue ; and they often bore 

 large cylindrical holes in the posts of houses. True 

 honey-bees are chiefly remarkable in the East for their 

 large semi-circular combs suspended from the branches 

 of the loftiest trees without any covering. From these 

 exposed nests large quantities of w^ax and honey are 

 obtained, while the larvse afford a rich feast to the natives 

 of Borneo, Timor, and other islands where bees abound. 

 They are very pugnacious, and, w^hen disturbed will 

 follow the intruders for miles, stinging severely. 



Orthojotera and other Insects. — Next to the butterflies 

 and ants, the insects that are most likely to attract the 

 attention of the stranger in the tropics are the various 

 forms of Mantidse and Phasmidse, some of which are 

 remarkable for their strange attitudes and bright colours; 

 while others are among the most singular of knowm 

 insects, owing to their resemblance to sticks and leaves. 

 The Mantidse — usually called 'Spraying insects," from 

 their habit of sitting wdth their long fore-feet held up as 

 if in prayer — are really tigers among insects, lying in 

 w^ait for their prey, which they seize with their powerful 

 serrated fore-feet. They are usually so coloured as to 



