AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 197 
Wasps—continued. 
leaving little but empty skins. They are extremely 
numerous in some seasons, while in others scarcely a 
Wasp can be seen. A brief account of their life-history 
will suggest suitable methods for lessening their numbers. 
The Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris) may be selected as 
representative of the genus in its life-history. Towards 
the close of autumn by far the greater number of the 
Wasps die; and only a few females survive the winter. The 
Wasps one sees in spring, exploring holes and crevices 
in the ground, in old walls, in heaps of rubbish, or in tree 
trunks, are females in search of secure retreats in which to 
form nests; and each one killed at this season prevents 
the formation of a nest during the summer. Those that 
find suitable localities enlarge them, if necessary, to the 
size required for the commencement of the nests. A very 
favourite locality is a mouse-hole. Each female works by 
herself for a time in forming her nest, the coverings and 
cells in which are made of a kind of paper. This substance, 
it is believed, is prepared from the fibres of wood rasped 
by the Wasps from the surface of naked trunks or of posts, 
rails, or other articles, moistened with a fluid from the 
mouths of the insects, and made into a paste. The Wasp 
fixes a short pillar of this to some firm body—e.g., the root 
of a plant, or a stone, in the roof of the hole—and. then 
forms two or three cells, mouth downwards, on the free 
end of the pillar, and builds an umbrella-like roof above 
them. In each cell an egg is laid; and, after a short time, 
the larve are hatched, and require to be tended and fed 
by the parent Wasp. The food given to the larvs while 
young is chiefly honey, taken from Bees, or from ripe 
fruits; but, when the larve are older, they are fed on flies | 
and other insects, When Wasps can gain access to grocers’ 
and butchers’ shops, they are apt to become trouble- 
some in their efforts to obtain sugar and animal food from 
the supplies in the shops, instead of from the usual sources. 
As the larve grow, the cells have to be enlarged around 
them; and at last they become full-fed, spin over the 
eh) 
Fic. 213. PUPA OF WASP. 
opening of the cell, and pass into the state of pups (see 
Fig. 213). The female Wasp continues to form new cells, 
and to feed the young brood; and, as soon as the perfect 
insects have emerged from the pups, they assist her in her 
work. The Wasps that develop in early summer are in- 
capable of laying eggs, and are called neuters; they are, in 
reality, females in which the reproductive organs remain 
undeveloped. As the number of cells is increased, the 
size of the hole must be enlarged, and the outer coverings 
of the nest removed and relaid, of a size to permit of the 
nest in its new dimensions being contained within them. 
As the number of Wasps is augmented from the young 
broods, the nest increases more and more rapidly in size, 
and combs are added, each new one being suspended from 
its predecessor by numerous supports of the papery material, 
strengthened by an extra allowance of the gluey secretion 
from the insects’ mouths. Space is left between the combs 
to permit the Wasps to move abont freely, and to gain easy 
access to every cell. Towards the end of summer, both 
males and females are developed, in addition to the 
workers or neuters, to secure the perpetuation of the 
species. When the winter is near, the Wasps have been 
observed to tear open the cells containing larve, which 
they then destroy. The instinct to do so is a merciful 
one, as the larve would otherwise perish of starvation, 
from the pain of which they are saved by this speedy 
mode of death. Besides V. vulgaris, certain other species 
of the genus make their nests in holes; but others suspend 
their nests from the branches of trees or bushes (see 
Fig. 214). Except in situation, the latter nests agree 
Wasps—continued. 
with those formed in holes, the outer covering being made 
sufficiently strong to prevent injury from the weather; 
these nests are entered by a small hole below, or on one 
side near the bottom. 
The Hornet (V. Crabro) differs from its congeners in its 
larger size. It is not scarce in the South of England, 
where it nests in hollow trees or in outhouses, The 
material employed by Hornets in making the paper for 
their nest is usually rotten wood. ‘These insects sting 
much more severely than Wasps; but they feed almost 
wholly on other insects, including Wasps, and must be 
regarded as friends in the garden. 
Remedies, Indistricts where Wasps are very numerous, 
it is often necessary to destroy them and their nests, in 
order to protect the fruit, and to prevent annoyance from 
their entering houses, and using their stings. Prevention 
is best secured by encouraging the capture of the females 
in spring, as this prevents them from commencing the nests. 
The numbers may also be lessened either by capturing 
the insects, or by destroying the nests. Wasps may be 
caught in summer and autumn in various simple traps 
Fic. 214, NEST OF TREE Wasp. 
—e.g., a bottle containing a little sweet fluid of any sort 
suspended in a tree. A good trap is easily prepared by 
placing a bell glass on three supports, so as to leave space 
for insects to fly or crawl in below to the bait (sugar, 
treacle, or other sweet stuff), placed in & plate under the 
bell glass. The latter should open at the top by a hole, 
and above it should be placed another glass, closed at 
the top. The insects, on rising from the bait, fly upwards, 
pass through the hole in the lower glass, and are trapped 
in the space between it and the upper one. The glass 
“ fly-catchers,” now coming into use, effect the capture 
of Wasps in a similar way, and deserve a trial by any 
one troubled with an abundance of the insects. The 
situations of the nests determine the most likely methods 
