As may be seen, the nest is of considerable size, and might from its external appearance be mistaken for that of a wasp. The interior of it, however, is even more elaborate, being full of little covered passages interlacing with each other in a most intricate manner, but all leading to the internal galleries. The two nests which are shown in the next illustration are, if possible, still more remarkable. [Illustration] The upper one is found in Cayenne, and is made by an insect called the fungus ant (_Polyrachis bispinosa_), because the nest looks as if it were made of fungus. It is not, however, composed of that material, but of the fibre of the cotton-tree (_Bombax ceiba_). The fibre is in itself very short, barely exceeding an inch in length, but it is cut very much shorter by the ant, who contrives to felt it together in a most curious manner, so that it is hardly possible to trace the course of any one fibre. The size of the nest is, on an average, about eight or nine inches in diameter. The insect itself is given in the preceding illustration, but very much enlarged. If the reader will look at the centre of the body, he will see the projections which have given it the name of _bispinosa_, or two-spined. The lower figure represents the nest of another species of ant belonging to the same genus, and called scientifically, _Polyrachis textor_. The nest is most ingeniously made of little pieces of wood and tendrils, put together so as to form a kind of open net-work, through which the interior of the nest is plainly visible. This insect inhabits Malacca.] _CHAPTER XVI_. STRUCTURES OF WHITE ANTS, OR TERMITES.