386 



EVOLUTION AND ANIMAL LIFE 



weather-beaten wood taken from old fences or outbuildings. 

 In each of the cells the queen lays an egg. She deposits in the 

 cell a small mass of food, consisting of some chewed insects 

 or spiders. From these eggs hatch grubs which eat the food 

 prepared for them, grow, pupate, and issue as worker wasps, 



FIG. 240. At the left, nest of Vespa, a social wasp; at the right, nest of Vespa opened 



to show combs within. (From photographs.) 



winged and slightly smaller than the queen (Fig. 239) . The 

 workers enlarge the nest, adding more combs and making 

 many cells, in each of which the queen lays an egg. The 

 workers provision the cell with chewed insects, and other broods 

 of workers are rapidly hatched. The community grows in num- 

 bers and the nest grows in size until it comes to be the great 

 ball-like oval mass which we know so well as a hornets' nest 

 (Fig. 240), a thing to be left untouched. When disturbed, 

 the \vasps swarm out of the nest and fiercely attack any 

 invading foe in sight. After a number of broods of workers 

 has been produced, broods of males and females appear and 

 mating takes place. In the late fall the males and all of the 

 many workers die, leaving only the new queens to live through 

 the winter. 



Honeybees live together, as we know, in large communities. 



