*158 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
mass, leaving only a small interval between them, so that it 
forms part of a hollow sphere, and a section of it would present 
a form like that of the capital letter C laid on its back. 
The rest of the combs follow in regular order, the curve of ) 
each becoming shallower, until the last is but slightly depressed j 
in the centre. They are carried to the sides of the nest and 
thereto attached, except in a few places, where an open space 
is left between the edge of the comb and the side of the nest, 
so as to allow the wasps to have access to the different tiers of 
cells. As is the case with most of the wasp tribe, the tiers are 
single, and the mouths of the combs are all downwards. 
The depth of the cells, and consequently the thickness of the 
combs, varies according to their position in the nest, the upper 
cells being the largest, and those below the smallest. The longest 1 
cells are from five to seven lines in length, and the shortest, ! 
about two lines. The material of which they are made is the 
same as that of which the exterior is formed, and is of quite as 
dark a colour. In texture, however, it is much slighter, being 
very thin and paper-like. These cells extend to the very edges j 
of the combs, of which there are fourteen in the present sped- j 
men. The length of the nest is sixteen inches, and its diameter I 
in the widest part is one foot. 
In the upper combs was discovered a quantity of honey, which, 
when it was found, was hard and dry, of a deep brownish-red, 
and without either taste or scent. De Azara mentions that him- 1 
self and some of his men ate the honey of the Myrapetra, and j 
that it was of a deleterious character. Another species of honey- ! 
making wasp, Polistes Licheguana, a native of Brazil, was dis- 
covered by M. St. Hilaire, who mentions that it lays up in the 
nest a large provision of honey, which is very injurious to man- j 
kind, on account of the poisonous plants from which it is taken. 
Polisies gallica also fills its cells with honey, which, however, 
does not seem to be poisonous. 
Within the nest were found also the remains of insects. I 
There was the body of a black fly, which belongs or is allied to 1 
the genus Bibio, and the remains of a neuropterous insect, which 
apparently belongs to the genus Hemerobius. 
