1903 



15 



NOTES ON WASPS. 



BY D. R. PACK-BERESFORD, D.L. 



The fict that I took a considerable number of males of Vespa 

 ausiriaca last year led me to hope, that as there had evidently 

 been a nest near here, the species might be found in still 

 greater numbers this year. This hope has been fully justified, 

 as will be seen by the following statistics of queens taken this 

 spring as well as by some further facts to be related. 



By the above table [the figures in the first column of which 

 have been already published in the Irish Naturalist, but are 

 repeated here for the sake of comparison], it will be seen that 

 I took no less than 23 ausiriaca queens as against a maximum 

 of 4 taken in 1899. 



I can fully bear out the observations of Messrs. Harrington 

 and Moffat,^ that austriaca is apparentl}^ a late wasp, the first 

 specimens having been taken on June 28th, by which date 

 there were workers of vulgaris, no7vegica^ and rufa out, and 

 the last on July 12th. By the latter date there were very few 

 queens still about, but these few w^ere mostly 7'ufa, which 

 thus seems to be one of the latest wasps as well as one of the 

 earliest. Workers of V. rufa are always amongst the first to 

 be seen in the spring, but they disappear early ; hardly one 

 will be seen after the end of August, though vulgaris will go 

 on for three months after that. 



^ Irish Naturalist^ Vol X-, p. 199. 



