WASPS. 195 



water-tight, and as the "roof" slopes downwards 

 the water runs quickly off. The mother-wasps 

 make several cells of paper, the openings directed 

 downwards, and in each cell near to the middle of 

 it she fastens a little elliptic egg with a short stalk. 

 (Plate 24, Fig. 2, a.) One can see the tiny baby 

 grub gradually form in the Qgg, for it is trans- 

 lucent in most cases. When the little larvae are 

 hatched there is a very strenuous time for the 

 mother. Each larva has to be fed, and she 

 has to hunt for spiders and masticate them, and 

 feed her children. As she approaches the cell the 

 little grub raises its head] to receive the food, 

 and we observed some of the larger ones pushing 

 their heads right out of the cells just as little 

 hungry birds do. The larva (Plate 24, Fig. 3) has 

 a kind of pad at the end of the abdomen and it 

 seems to be able to fasten itself to the cell by means 

 of this, as it hangs head downwards. Tt 

 moults several times and the moult-skins are pushed 

 down to the bottom of the cell alone with *excre- 



o 



tion. When ready to pupate (Plate 24, Figs. 4 

 and 5), the larva builds a loose web at the mouth 

 of the cup. In the earlier life of the nest only 

 workers hatch out, and they now come to help the 

 mother-wasp. They take control of the home, 

 enlarging and cleaning cells, making new ones, 

 hunting for spiders, and feeding the babies. 



We observed a nest of Polistes Tasmanicnsis on a 

 tree during a whole season. Near by was a hedge 

 of olive trees, and when the young befries were out 

 (about the size of small peas) we noticed that these 



