HYMENOPTERA. ?6q 



1- 



Y The wasps are distinguished from the bees by a decided charac- 

 teristic. In a state of repose they fold together their upper wings, 

 which then seem very narrow, only spreading them out when they are 

 ibout to fly ; whilst the latter when at rest keep their upper wings 

 spread out. 



Wasps live in companies, which last only a year, and are composed 

 3f males, females, and workers. But the female wasp does not pass 

 ler entire life in idleness as a queen, like the mother hive bee. She 

 occupies herself in making the nest and in taking care of the young, 

 ,ike the mother humble bee. The males have also their duties. They 



I Fig- 345.— Common Wasp {Ves^a vulgaris). Fig. 346.— Bush Wasp ( l^es^a fiofvegica). 



-atch over the cleanliness of the habitation, and are the sanitary 

 ammissioners and undertakers to the city. These are easily recog- 

 ised by their oblong bodies, having so slight a connection with the 

 lorax, as it were by a thread. 



Their sting is larger than that of the bees, and is supplied with 

 Dison from a pouch placed at its base. The males have no stmg. 

 ^asps do not secrete wax. With their mandibles they scrape wood 

 id plants, the fragments of which they agglutinate together in such a 

 ay as to form a tough cardboard. Thus, they invented the manu- 

 cture of paper long before men. Charles de Geer, in his celebrated 

 ork, sums up the habits of these insects in the following manner :— 

 Wasps," says he, " are, like bees, fond of sweets and honey, although 

 ey rarely seek them in flowers ; but their principal food consists m 

 atters of quite a different kind, such as fruits of all kinds, raw flesh, 

 d live insects, which they seize and devour. They sometimes do 

 eadful damage in beehives, devouring the honey, and killing the 

 ■es. They do not gather wax ; their nests and their combs are 

 mposed of a matter resembling grey paper, which they get from 

 tten wood, and which they scrape ofl" with their jaws ; they make a 

 rt of paste of these scrapings by moistening them with a certain 



