. Marvels of insect life [microform] : a popular account of structure and habit. Insects; Insectes. Horned ^[emhracid, 1'his phoio fWi"* n vii'W from above nt tht* IiisiTt that who protect thorn and feed ujjon their excretions. More than eight liundred species oi these remarkable Insects have been described from temperate and tropical America, the West Indies. Africa, and the East Indies. Of these, more than half belong to tropical America. \'ery few occur in Europe, and these appear to have been derived from the nearer parts of Africa. The Mud-Daubers. The term mud-dauber is scarcely a n
. Marvels of insect life [microform] : a popular account of structure and habit. Insects; Insectes. Horned ^[emhracid, 1'his phoio fWi"* n vii'W from above nt tht* IiisiTt that who protect thorn and feed ujjon their excretions. More than eight liundred species oi these remarkable Insects have been described from temperate and tropical America, the West Indies. Africa, and the East Indies. Of these, more than half belong to tropical America. \'ery few occur in Europe, and these appear to have been derived from the nearer parts of Africa. The Mud-Daubers. The term mud-dauber is scarcely a nice descriptive word to apply to the work of an accomplished mason, but it must be taken as marking the resent- ment shown by people in various part> of the world whose hou,M-proi)erty, in- cluding ceiling^-, cornices, door-jambs, and even the furniture, is disfigured b\ having lumps of clay as big as one's fist strongly attached. The wasp> who engage in this kind of misplaced decoi ation do not do so, as many people imagine, " out of pure cussed- ; but as a provision for the comfort of their offspring. The si >- called daub of mud is really a cluster of earthen cells, upon which, to dis- guise its true character, the industrious mother wasp plasters mud and more mud, until she has filled up all the interstices between the cells, and the cluster becomes one mass which look> quite solid. There are many different species of thj solitary wasps that ctm- struct their cells in this way, and it is remarkable that so many i 'i them should manifest a preferenic for human habitations as their build- ing site;--. Fabre mentions one* that, of all places for its nesting-site, selects a nook in the brrad oi>en firejjiaces of the peasants of Southern Europe, whei^ . although safe from the flames, it is not free from smoke. In spite of cookiiu ' Scelipliron }; [ European Meo-PAeBER. Ihw whose nlU an' »Iiom-ii in the low
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1915
