94 April, 



THE KKSTING HABITS OF VKSPA RUFA. 



BY DKNIS R. PACK-BERKSFORD, D.I.. 



In his book on " British Social Wasps,'' Dr. Ormerod remarks 

 on the fact, that V. rtifa, though a ground-building species, 

 yet builds her nest on what he calls the "laminar" plan, like 

 the tree-building species V. sylvcstris and V. Jiorvegica, as 

 opposed to the "cellular" plan of the nests of V. vulgaris and 

 V. germanica, the two other ground-building species. 



Besides the plan, the texture of the outer case of V. nifa 

 nests is very distinct; being tough and paper-like as in those 

 of the tree-building species; whereas that of the other ground- 

 builders is extremel}' brittle. In fact, the nest of V. nifa, 

 although built on the ground, decidedly resembles the tree 

 nests in size and general structure. Another point of interest 

 that I noticed in nests of V. rufa^ which I found last summer 

 was, that although built on the ground the}' were not in any 

 sense underground, but were suspended from the roots of 

 long coarse grass, with no earth over them, but sitting into a 

 cup-shaped hollow in the earth, which had evidently been 

 excavated by the wasps for their reception. 



I succeeded in finding three such nests last summer, and 

 all were similarl}' situated. 



Mr. Carpenter has been so kind as to examine for me a 



V. rnfa nest from Co. Tipperarj^ which is in the Museum in 



Dublin ; and he tells me that pieces of grass roots and stems 



run through the upper surface of the nest, showing that it 



too must have been built in the same sort of place. 



One more case. Mr. Robson, in his article on Vcspa 

 austriaca in Science Gossip (vol. v., p. 69), describes a W ntja 

 nest in a ha3'-field. He says, " The nest was attached to the 

 very abundant fibrous roots of the grasses at the summit"; 

 and further on, " So firmly was the nest secured to the roots 

 on the inner side in its upper part, that the walls there were 

 torn away when it was carefully drawn out of its cavity." 



It seems probable, then, that these nests are as a rule built 

 amongst the roots of grass, and not underground. 



