THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2652, 11 January 1905, Page 68

THE NATURALIST.

Making Fets of Hornets. The female hornet has a rapid-fire armament with a recoverable projectile. It usi'-s it for both attack and 1 defence, and with remarkable aim aijfi efficiency. The first stroke of a hornet is as penetrating as an- electric shock. At the base of its sl^arp sting there is a sac containing poison, which, when injected into the sub- ! stance of its enemy, ca»es pain, swelling andt discomfort, facts to which most persons are able to testify by experience. Should ' the injection be upon the end of the thumb or nose, or upon the tongue, there is danger from it. Strong ammonia applied to the wound is the best antidote. Yet the hornet, when treated politely and' with gentle ceremony," is as docile as a butterfly. In the mountains of West Virginia I had a wire fly trap which, by the seductive influence of molasses, persuaded the house flies infesting my stave-built office, to enter. Once within it they remain, incarcerated' until hot-water cured. For several days a very persistent black-and-white strip-ed hornet amused me by its futile endeavours to seize flies from the buzzing horde of prisoners. At last it found its way in, and to my astonishment, after capturing a fly, found its way out. It had remembered the j way of its entrance *>sen in the excitement i of the chase. It did not paralyse its. prey, as does the mud wasp and other speoies. It did not stop to eat a single fly, so far as my observation extended. It had a victualling job on hand, and attended faithfully to it. Such selfishness excited admiration.

During one of its absences I p^ced my hand over the trap entrance, and uipom it laid a piece of ripe peach. Upon the hornet's return it lit upon my hand and ran confusedly over it, yet soon tried to get under the covering fingers. Failing, it went to the peach and took a hearty meal. While it was eating I quietly moved my hand from the opening. After preening itself the hornet entered, and continued its fly raid.

After raany dozens of > trips it brought a comrade with it, and personally conducted it into the fly pound. Thereafter they always worked together. To be sure of this, by slow approaches of an affectionate finger I was enabled to stroke them while lunching. I marked them both with a spot of red ink. Many continued experiences convinced me that hornets work in pairs, like detectives. Several other hornets^ from the same Qejt yigited th& cage, tried to

enter it, but found the. problem too much for them. In no instance did the pair Offer these instruction or pay any attention to them. They all partook of my lunches freely and in harmony. But the favoured pair guarded their secret. Were they selfish? Did they receive special plaudits at the home neirt for their phenomenal success in fly capture? Or were they simply governed by hornet manners?

I grew fond of these winged warriors. I introduced them to my several fingers by placing tempting siweets upon them. They learned to come to me after they had emptied the trap of prisoners, and gradually became very companionable. Following the direction of their home flight, and noting the range of trees, their nest was easily found. It hung on the end of a branch of mountain rhododendron. The glossy, green leaves overhanging it were undisturbed in their position, but were so built into the outer layer of papiermache covering as to give the nest natural oopcealment. Whether this was intentional or not, or whether the leaves simply bebecame an obstruction as the nest was increased in size \by dismantling the inside and building upon the outside, I do not know, but the evidence was in favour of engineering, reason, intention, rather than accident. Hornets were the first users of wood pulp for paper manufacture. They made it from wood and leaf fibre, and there is both forethought and economy in tearing out the insides of their nest to make room for larger tiers of cells in whioh to raise their young, and in using the material to enlarge the nursery. — Farm and Fireside.

Ants on the March. — Eye-witnesses of the marches whioh ants make aver that when they come to an obstacle they go through it or over it, orlrake it with them. They march as straight as a Roman road. Human occupants fly when an ant army takes its way through a house- occurring on its line of march. The legions pass un and destroy nothing but such as will serve as food, but after they have gone not a beetle, a spider, # scorpion, a rat, or a mouse, or an insect, or a reptile of any size, shape, or name remains. All have been eaten by the army. It is on record that one of these moving companies was obstructed in its passage by an elephant. It took the army eight hours to pass the spot, and' then there remained nothing but the picked bones of the elephant.

A Giant Australian Crab. — The Natural History Museum, South Kensington, has just received • a fine example of the giant j Australian crab, Pseudooarcinus gigas. i Though caught off Hobart, Tasmania, it has, arrived in splendid condition, having been packed in ice and handled with great care. This orab represents one of the j largest living Crustacea, and is said to attain a width of 2ft across the shell and a weight' of 301b. Little is known about its habits, but from the huge size of the left pair v of nippers, which are as long as a man's arm, it would be capable- of inflictin.gi terrible' punishment upon any creature of the sea which had^the temerity to attack it.

The Butterfly's Poeket.7--The male butterflies- have the proud privilege of a pocket, but the pocket of a butterfly is wonderfully made. It is Teally an extension of the under wing folded back on the upper side, but it is exquisitely coloured and marked like the upper side, go that it is very hard to detect, and no one has yet discovered just how it is opened, although undoubtedly the butterfly ca.n throw it open when he is flying. At first glance there seems to be only white or amber-coloured silk floss within, but examine this with a microscope and you will find twisted ibbons, slender rods shaped like a shepherd's crook, others jo : nted bamboo-like, and flexible rods and tiny scales of various sorts and patterns. It is known that insects have a marvellously keen sce<nt, and it is believed that all these odd little objects are perfume boxes, and that the fragrance so thrown' abroad is a signal call to the female butterfly, which, may be wandering about in the air. It is, to say the least, a very interesting guess, -and there is evidence to prove that butterflies and moths are summoned from distances by odours that we would hardly notice.