Nests of Pelopæus (1, 2); Anthidium (3); Trypoxylon (4); and Eumenes (5).
At Fig. 2 is seen the nest of Pelopæus Flavipes, a North American insect, which is also fixed along its whole length to the supporting object, which is sometimes a wall, and sometimes, as in the illustration, a branch. It is made of mud, and the insects seem to have a sort of gregarious instinct, loving to fix their nests in rows, one above the other. There is only one larva in each cell. The Pelopæi are, by the way, allied to the English genus Ammophila.
Fig. 3 shows the nest of Anthidium cordatum, one of the solitary bees of Natal. It is made of vegetable fibres. The insect as well as the nest is represented of the natural size. It is black and shining, with the under part and sides and legs yellowish.
At Fig. 4 are seen three of the nests of Trypoxylon aurifrons, a Brazilian insect. They are built of mud, and are remarkable for their elegant shape, which looks as if it had been formed by the hand of the potter, and for the manner in which the mouth is turned over so as to form a distinct neck. The larvæ is fed with a store of spiders. The insect is represented of the natural size; its colour is black, and the face is covered with short golden hairs, a fact which has gained for it the name of aurifrons, or golden-fronted.
Our last example, Fig. 5, is the nest of an English insect, Eumenes coarctata. The insect is represented of its natural size. It is very pretty in colour as well as elegant in shape, being black, diversified with yellow bands and spots. The nest is made of clay, and is found upon the heath twigs. The larvæ of the Eumenes are fed with those of a species of Crambus. The insect is tolerably common in Surrey and Hampshire, and appears in July and August.
The three figures in the next illustration represent the cocoons of three species of the Bombycidæ, and are given in order to show the different modes by which they are fastened. The upper nest is hung by a slight cord, which spreads into a broad silken band wrapped round the branch for some distance. The right-hand figure shows a very remarkable cocoon suspended by a long footstalk affixed to a ring. The remarkable point in the construction of this ring is that it is very hard and horny, and is not fastened to the branch, but passes loosely round it, so that the cocoon swings backwards and forwards in the breeze. The cocoon is about two inches in length, and is covered with thick black veinings. The lowermost cocoon is most curiously fixed to the branch by bending the leaves round the exterior of the dwelling, and fixing them to it with silk. All these specimens were brought from Northern India.]
