88 



ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



the cool weather announces the approach of winter, the 

 workers and queens desert the hive, leaving- the help- 

 less drones and unat- 

 tended young to per- 

 ish. The workers 

 wander about until 

 killed by frost. The 

 queens alone seek 

 some sheltered place 

 to spend the winter. 1 

 The social wasps 

 are predaceous. They 

 feed their young 

 upon insects which 

 they have masticated. 

 Adults seek also the 

 nectar of flowers, the 

 juices of fruits, and 

 the honeydew of 

 plant-lice. 



The queens, drones 

 and workers are simi- 

 lar in color. The 

 queens are larger 

 than the workers. 

 The drones do not sting, but unfortunately their close 

 resemblance to the hostile and much-dreaded workers 

 leads us to repel the advances of all alike. The number 

 of individuals existing at one time among these social 

 wasps is often quite great, but there are not so many 

 species as there are among solitary wasps. 



1 Iii Brazil there are perennial communities of wasps founded by swarm after the 

 fashion of bee colonies. (Von Ihering.) 



Fie. 70. Hornets' nest; one side removed, 

 to show arrangement of combs within. Drawn 

 from nature by Miss M. E. Wise. 



