CHAPTER XIV.

PENSILE INSECTS

The Hymenoptera-Australian Insects-The CREMATOGASTER and NEGRO-HEAD -The GREEN ANT, its Habits and Nest-An African species--Pensile Ants of America The ABISPA, and its remarkable Nest-Ingenious entrance-The TATUA, or DUTCHMAN'S PIPE-Structure and Shape of its Nest-Firmness of the Walls-Average number of Cells in each Tier-The Common WASP as a Pensile Insect-Gigantic Nest-Union of three Colonies-Character of the Wasp The NORWEGIAN WASP-Structure and Locality of its Nest-Classification of the Wasps-The CAMPANULAR WASP and the NORTHERN WASPThe CHARTERGUS or PASTEBOARD WASP-Mode by which the Nest is suspended -Method of Structure-Meaning of the Name-Enormous Nest from CeylonVarious Wasp Nests-The POLISTES as a Pensile Insect-Singular Nest in the British Museum--The GIBBOUS ANT-Honey Wasps, the general characteristics of their Nests-The MYRAPETRA- Its singular Nest-Structure of the Walls and use of the Projections-The NECTARINIA-Why so called-Locality of the Nest-Size of the Insect-The TRIGONA and its Nest-Ichneumon FliesDifferent species of MICROGASTER, and their Habitations-The PERILITUSWeevils-Beautiful Cocoon of Cionus-The EMPEROR MOTH and its Home-The ATLAS MOTH and other Silk Producers-The HOUSEBUILDER MOTи and its movable Dwelling-The TIGER MOTH and its Hammock-The CYPRESSSPURGE MOTH-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. The reader will probably recall to mind during the perusal of the following pages, that several admirable examples of pensile nest-makers are not mentioned. The reason for their temporary omission is, that some of them make their nests of mud, and will therefore be described under the head of Builders; while others make their

joint homes on so large a scale that they will be considered under the head of Social Nest-makers.

UPON the large illustration will be seen several examples of pensile nests; and, as many Australian insects are remarkable for the beauty and singularity of the pensile nests which they build, I have selected three of the most remarkable instances for illustration. Adhering to the principle which has been followed throughout the work, the scene of the drawing has been laid in Australia, and the general contour of the country, the peculiar foliage, the animals which enliven the scene, and the singular manner in which a wooded district is often dotted with trees, have been carefully represented.

In the upper corner of the drawing is seen the large nest of a remarkable ant, called Crematogaster læviceps. I do not know whether this species has any particular name, but in the Brazils an allied species goes by the name of Negro-head Ant, because the nest is round, like the bullet-shaped head of a Negro, and is covered on the exterior with little projections that are supposed to resemble the close woolly hair.

When the ant runs about, it has a curious habit of holding its abdomen so high in the air that it curves over the back and overhangs the thorax, a peculiarity which has earned for the genus the name of Crematogaster, or "hanging-belly." At first sight the nest bears a close resemblance to the pensile habitation of certain wasps, but when subjected to a nearer examination it proves to be even more complicated, being composed of multitudinous curved and intricate ramifications, all leading to the interior galleries and cells.

There are other ants which have the habit of carrying the abdomen erect, such as Myrmica Kirbii, and Formica elata. The former of these insects makes its nest in the branches of trees, and composes it of cowdung, having the art of spreading that singular material into thin flaky masses, which overlap each other like the tiles of a house. There is a separate roof to the nest which is partly domelike, and projects on all sides beyond the circumference of the nest. The latter insect fixes its nest in the thicker branches, and forms it of mixed mud and leaves.

AT the foot of the illustration is seen another rounded nest,

also made by an ant, called Ecophylla virescens. Travellers know it by the name of the GREEN ANT; a title which is very insufficient, as it embraces several other species. The name of Ecophylla is compounded of two Greek words, the former signifying a house, and the second a leaf, and is given to this insect because it makes its home of dead leaves.

This ant is sometimes very troublesome to travellers, who may unconsciously disturb one of the nests that hang among the branches, nearly concealed by the leaves. The ants come pattering down like hail-drops, and in a moment he will be covered with a whole swarm of them, seeking for unprotected parts which they can wound, and having a special faculty for getting down the neck. The nest is about eight inches in diameter, and is made in a very singular manner. The general mass of its substance is composed of leaves which have been cut by the ants and masticated until they form a coarse pulp, something like that which is made by the wasp and hornet, except that the material is green leaves instead of wood fibres. With this substance the nest is formed, and is hung among the thickest foliage, being sustained not only by the branches, but by the leaves, which are worked into the nest and in many parts project from its outer wall. The outside of the nest is easily to be distinguished from that of the Crematogaster by the smoothness and regularity of its walls. A species of this genus inhabits Africa, and was discovered by Mr. Foxcroft, who noticed that whenever the ants were disturbed, they ran about the outside of their nest so fast and in such numbers, that their pattering steps on the papery covering of the nest deluded him into the idea that rain was falling on the leaves above.

BEFORE describing the third nest in the illustration, which is the workmanship of a wasp, I will briefly mention one or two remarkable instances of pensile nests made by ants. One species, Formica bispinosa, which inhabits Central America, makes use of the silk-cotton which is produced by the seed-vessels of the cotton-tree (Bombax ceiba), and makes it into a sponge-like mass, which much resembles amadou, and, like that substance, is extremely valuable for stopping violent discharges of blood.

Another ant, Formica merdicola, rivals the Myrmica Kirbii in the singularity of the material which it uses in the construction