us 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. l, 1867. 



domicile. She began by gnawing up slight irregu- 

 larities on the surface of the wooden roof of the 

 porch ; on this she built a kind of peduncle or short 

 footstalk, the keystone of the house springing from 

 this; and around it she then built a kind of inverted 

 cup of about the size of an old china teacup. This 

 occupied two days. She then contracted the mouth 

 of the cup until she reduced it to an orifice no 

 larger than sufficient to admit a pea •, she then built 

 another envelope on this, and again another. The 

 building now seemed to cease for about ten days or 

 a fortnight ; but she could be seen going in and out, 

 apparently busy with .her first brood. At the expi- 

 ration of about a month other wasps appeared upon 

 the scene — a few only ; but they now began to work 

 with a will upon'their future home, and it increased 

 prodigiously, until it reached the very unusual size 

 of 8 inches in width, 7 inches across, and 74 inches 

 deep. It is now full of wasps, who are busy enough 

 with their late brood, and has the appearance of a 

 monstrous dead rose, or cabbage, fixed to the rafters 

 of the roof. Last week they were busy doing what 

 is, to my mind, so singular an illustration of their 

 sagacity — I mean killing and carrying out of the 

 nest the late grubs, who they know, being hatched 

 so late in the year, will not come to perfection. I 

 enclose you a sketch of the nest in the inside of the 

 roof of the porch. 



Fig. 251. Nest attached, reduced. 



Ultimately I carried the wasp's nest by assault, 

 and reduced the citadel. It is now under a glass 

 case in my study, safe and sound, and is a most 

 curious structure. It was attached to its support iu 

 the roof by the'peduncle or stalk above mentioned; 

 to this is appended the first cup-shaped foundation. 

 Immediately below this, and overshadowed by it, is a 

 kind of circular gallery free from cells, under which 

 hangs, as you may say, the first tier of cells ; this is 

 circular in form, three-quarters of an inch deep, 

 five inches in diameter, and closely packed with 

 cells. Under that, again, comes another tier or laver 



of cells, of the same depth, but about six inches 

 in diameter, also, like the last-mentioned, closely 

 packed with cells. Under this, again, comes another 

 tier, less in diameter, but equally well filled with 

 cells. In the larger central tier alone there are 

 576 cells ; in'. the three tiers of cells there are about 

 1,250 cells. The material of the structure is [of a 

 fine vegetable papier-mache-like substance, which 



Fig. 252. Section of Nest. 



under the microscope seems evidently to be com- 

 minuted pieces of woody fibre. The cells are not 

 very neatly made, and although intended to be 

 hexagonal, more commonly degenerate into an irre- 

 gular cylinder. The cells are surrounded by an en- 

 velope of twenty-four folded leaves, giving the nest 

 the appearance of a huge Provence rose of a leaden- 

 grey colour. The figure shows the nest with one side 

 carefully removed to show the interior, and it gives 

 a very fair idea of its structure. On one side are a 

 group of larger cells, five in number, more carefully 

 made, doubtless the apartments of the future 

 queens. The garrison had supplied itself with 

 honey of a sweet sickening taste, and light colour. 

 There is but one aperture or door, but this imme- 

 diately breaks off into several passages, all commu- 

 nicating with the different galleries. 



Latreille describes the nest of V. hohatica as 

 being of a very slender papyraceous texture, scarcely 

 two inches long, and almost globular in form, with 

 one end, where is the aperture, truncated ; its 

 envelope composed of three pieces, of which the 

 basal one resembles the cup of the acorn. One of 

 these nests was found in a beehive, another in an 

 empty room. Reaumur figures a nest nearly agree- 

 ing with this description attached to a branch, and 

 Kirby and Spence describe another (vol. i., p. 510). 

 A correspondent of the Magazine of Natural History 

 has figured another, which was found attached to a 

 reed inside the roof of a barn (Jan., 1830). A similar 

 nest is represented by Knapp ("Journal of a Natu- 

 ralist," p. 333), which he gives as a distinct species 

 under the name of Vespa caaipanaria. Shaw also 

 (Misc., vol. xv., pi. 603) has figured the nest of the 

 Campanular wasp ; and Prof. Westwood has figured 

 one of these nests in a still more immature state 



