Social Insects. 19 



SOCIAL WASPS. 



The popular conception of these interesting insects is decidedly 

 at variance with their deserts. Wasps are generally considered 

 as thieves, robbers, idlers and vagabonds; as impertinent and in^ 

 quisitive, invading onr homes and devouring anything and every 

 thing their fancy craves, as sugar, fruit, meat, wines, etc., and 

 resenting any interference in such a pointed way as to bring pain 

 and rage to the incautious or meddlesome individual who inter 

 feres with their operations. The term " waspish," one of the 

 most expressive in the language, very well denotes the popular 

 feeling towards these somewhat maligned insects. Granted that 

 toward other insects they are cruel, and that they courageously 

 resent interference, yet the fact remains that they are seldom, if 

 ever, the original aggressors in the infliction of punishment, ex 

 cept in the capture and appropriation of other insects as food 

 a course which finds its counterpart in every other carnivorous 

 insect or higher animal, and is justified even by the example of 

 man himself. In their relationship with each other, the wasps 

 are polished and gentle, and never quarrelsome so far as their 

 own species are concerned; and they never turn robbers or 

 marauders of their own kind, as do the more lauded bees, among 

 which we have what are known as the corsair bees, which fre 

 quently rob their sisters of the sweets and pollen which they 

 have collected with great pains and indefatigable industry. 

 These robbers even lie in wait, and scheme and plan in bodies 

 for the success of their raids, as do thieves among men. Wasps 

 never resort to such cowardly proceedings, and hence strictly 

 speaking, are not robbers at all ; for aside from their own kind 

 the world is their legitimate pray. 



The family Vespidse, to which the wasps and hornets belong, 

 comprises some thousand known species. They closely resemble 

 bees, but differ in possessing more cylindrical bodies with a 

 harder, smoother integument. The wings are longer and folded 

 once longitudinally, and when at rest are laid flat on the body. 

 The antennae are elbowed, and the jaws are large and powerful. 

 Their eggs are at first nearly spherical, but rapidly become ovoid. 

 Their larv;e, as in the other social Hymenoptera, are legless and 

 helpless grubs, entirely dependent on the adults for food and 

 care. The family comprises, two natural groups, viz., the Social 



