190 
E UMENIDvB. IN SECTS. V ESPID^. 
get many a poke when trying to get at the sweet gather- 
ing of the Myrapetra. The name is a fanciful one, 
compounded of the names of two ancient cities — one 
Myra in Asia Minor, with its curious rock tombs ; the 
other Petra in Idumea, the ancient Selah, with its 
liouses and temples in the rock. The nest I have 
described was, at once, the home and the tomb of the 
wasps I found in it. — See fig. 60. 
Fig 60. 
Nest of Myrapetra scntellaiis. 
In the Brazilian forests many different kinds of ■wasps’ 
nests are met with. Mr. Wallace describes them as 
being generally attached to the under sides of leaves, 
especially of the young Tucuma palm, as the leaves of 
that plant are broad and afford a good shelter. Some 
of these nests are little flat domes, with a single small 
opening. Others have all the cells exposed. In some 
there are only two or three cells, this being an early 
stage of the nest ; when completed they have a great 
number ; they are of a delicate papery substance. 
Others build large cylindrical nests, of a material 
resembling thick cardboard. Some form their nests 
in hollow trees, while others construct them among 
the roots in the ground. Many of the wasps sting 
very painfully, while some are so fierce, that, when 
the traveller disturbs their nest, they fly out and 
attack him. 
F AMiLY — EUMENID JE {Solitary Wasps). 
Mr. Henry Saussure has described and figured most 
of the species of this group, as well as those belonging 
to other groups of the Diploptera. There are many 
genera and species, but reference here can only be 
afforded to some of the British species. 
Of the genus Eumenes, the abdomen of 
which is pear-shaped, the basal segment being 
narrowed into a petiole at its base, we have one 
species in the British islands. This {Eumenes 
coarctatus) is a very local insect, apparently 
restricted to the southern counties of England. 
It constructs small globular cells of mud, which 
it attaches to twigs of shrubs, particularly to 
those of the common heath. The insect provi- 
sions each nest with the larvae of small Lepi- 
doptera, for the support of its solitary grub. The 
Eumenes grub is occasionally the subject of a 
parasite of the genus Cryptm. 
Of the genus Odynerus there are many species, 
which are spread over all parts of the world. 
In the British islands there are twelve species, 
some of which are very difficult to discriminate, 
as their colouring is very inconstant. Some of 
the species burrow in wood. Odynerus trifas- 
ciatus, a common species, selects for its burrows 
decayed rails, posts, or fencing. Odynerus 
quadratus forms its cells in old posts, and 
generally, if not always, prefers some read}'- 
made tunnel or hole, fitted for its peculiar 
economy. Mr. Ingpen once knew of this species 
constructing its cells in the folding of a piece of 
paper which had fallen behind some books. It 
also makes use of the tubes of reeds used in 
thatching outhouses in a farm-yard. But the 
most curious adaptation I have heard of, is its 
having lined the bores of a double-barrelled pistol 
which hung on a post in an arbour of a garden. 
Odynerus antilope has its burrows in sand- 
banks. These burrows are provisioned with 
small green caterpillars of lepidopterous insects. 
The Golden wasp, Hedychruni auratum, is para- 
sitic on this species. 
The Odynerus spinipes is abundant in sandy 
lanes during the months of June and July, when it may 
often be met with in large colonies. The females store 
up small green caterpillars as food for their larvae. 
Their larvae are often subject to the parasitic attacks of 
Ckrysis bidentata, and ether species of Golden wasps 
are sometimes seen hovering about or entering their 
burrows. These wasps construct beautiful granular 
tubes, as entrances to these burrows, which are fre- 
quently met with on sandbanks in early summer. Ody- 
nerus Imvipes and 0. melanocephalus have been found 
burrowing in dead bramble sticks, or in those of the 
rose. The former species excavates and lines the tube 
with a coating of fine sand, and constructs the divi- 
sions bertween the cells also of fine sand. It stores up 
small caterpillars, and is subject to the attacks of two 
species of Ichneumon, the Cryptus wnatus and C, 
bellosus. 
