The female lives through the winter, and deposits her eggs 

 early in the spring in cells formed by herself; these eggs, ac- 

 cordino- to the observations of authors, produce only neuters, 

 which immediately form a colony or nest; the males next ap- 

 pear, and afterwards the females. Wasps scrape posts and 

 timber to form their nests ; they live upon fruit, will eat meat, 

 and they are very dexterous in catching flies. 



The insects that inhabit their nests, and probably prey upon 

 the larvae, are Dromius linearis (fol. 231): Rhipiphorus jpara- 

 doxus (pi. 19), supposed by the Rev. E. Bigge to have been 

 an Ichneumon; Anomalon Vesparum (pi. 198); and the larva 

 of Volucella inflatal (pi. 452) ; and on the Continent V. gal- 

 lica is infested with a Xenos. 



1. V. Crabro Linn. — Don. 14. pi. 502. The hornet is found 

 in May, August, September, and October, and builds its 

 nest in hollow trees and in thatched roofs. 



2. vulgaris Linn. — Don. 7. pi. 226. ? — Patiz. 49. 19 ? Found 

 from March to December, and builds its nest in the ground, 

 of fibres of wood scraped from sotmd timber, as observed 

 by the late Mr. T. A. Knight. 



3. rufa Linn.— Curt. B. E. pi. 760. ^ and ? . 



Male black, clothed with silky hair : antennae with a yellow stripe on the 

 inside of the basal joint and a dot at the apex ; orbits of eyes, excepting 

 the upper internal portion, a subquadrate space between the antennae, 

 outside of mandibles and clypeus yellow, the latter nearly divided by a 

 long trilobed spot : margins of collar, scapulars, 2 spots below them, and 

 2 on the scutel yellow : abdomen bright yellow, the black basal bands and 

 spots more or less edged with ferruginous ; basal segment black only next 

 the thorax with 3 black spots across the middle, 2nd and following seg- 

 ments with a black band at the base, and a black dot on each side, the 

 2nd with a large black spot in the centre united with the band, the 

 remainder angulated only in the centre and decreasing in depth : costa 

 and some of the nervures yellowish, the others brown, stigma pale fer- 

 ruginous : legs deep yellow, coxae, trochanters, and thighs, excepting the 

 apex, black ; inside of tibiae ferruginous, anterior with a black streak. 

 Female black, spot on the clypeus anchor-shaped (R) ; no yellow spot 

 at tip of basal joint of antennse, the stripe very narrow ; no black bands 

 visibel, except on the 2nd segment, but there are semicircular streaks on 

 the 3rd and 4th, the dorsal spots larger ; 1st and sometimes 2nd pair of 

 tibiae with piceous patches on the inside. Neuter, spots on the clypeus 

 more or less anchor-shaped ; no yellow streak on the antennae : abdo- 

 men like the female, but the spots on the basal segments are more or 

 less, sometimes entirely ferruginous ; tibiae seldom piceous inside. 

 At once distinguished by the anchor-shaped mark on the 

 face, which is represented only by a spot in V. vidgaris. It 

 constructs its nest oi rotten wood, and I once found an im- 

 mense number under a clod of earth. The 3 lines in the 

 plate show the length of the sexes. 



4. Britannica Leach, Zool. Misc. 2. 112. p/. 50. May and 

 July, building globular nests attached to trees, bushes, and 

 roofs, from the size of an apple to a man's head. Mr. Bigge 

 has published a very interesting memoir on this wasp and 

 V. vulgaris in the Transactions of the Ashmolean Society. 



Polijcarpon tctraphylluin, Four-leaved All-seed, from Slap- 

 ton, Devon, was communicated by Joseph Janson, Esq. 



