CHAPTER XIV. 
PENSILE INSECTS . 
The Hymenoptera — The Tatua, or Dutchman’s Pipe — Structure and 
Shape of its Nest — Firmness of the Walls — Average number of Cells in each 
Tier — The Norwegian Wasp — Structure and Locality of its Nest — The 
Campanular Wasp and the Northern Wasp — Honey Wasps, the general 
characteristics of their Nests — The Myrapetra — Its singular Nest — Struc- 
ture of the Walls and use of the Projections — The Nectar tnia — Why so 
called — Locality of the Nest — Size of the Insect — Ichneumon Flies — Different 
species of Microgaster, and their Habitations — The Atlas Moth — The 
Housebuilder Moth and its movable Dwelling — The Tiger Moth and 
its Hammock — The Barnet Moth and its Cocoon — The Oak Eggar and 
Little Eggar Moths — Various Leaf-rollers — Suspended Cocoon — Leaf- 
burrowers and their Homes — The Spider. 
We now leave the birds, and proceed to the insects which make 
pensile nests. Some of them, such as those which will be first 
described, do not become pensile architects until they have 
attained their perfect state ; while many others form their nests, 
either as a place of refuge during their larval life, or as an 
asylum in which they can rest while in the transition state of pupa. 
Just as the Hymenoptera are the best burrowers, so are they 
the best insect artizans when the nests are suspended, and we 
shall therefore take them first in order. 
In the accompanying illustration may be seen two specimens 
of a remarkable pensile nest that is made by a wasp called 
Tatua morio , an insect which is notable for having the basal 
segment of the abdomen narrowed into long and slender foot- 
stalks, not unlike that of the Eumenes, and others. 
The nest of this species is made of the papery substance 
used by many wasps, except that the material is so hard and 
smooth as to resemble white cardboard. The general form of 
the nest is shown in the engraving, being somewhat like a 
