Insect Geometry 



case of various Social Wasps, number their 

 cradles by the thousand, require ease of 

 inspection, quickness of attendance and 

 therefore perfect order. Whereas it 

 makes no difference to the Chalicodomae, the 

 Eumenes and the Pelopsei whether their 

 cells be grouped without any great pre- 

 cision, since, once provisioned and sealed, 

 they will not be visited again, it is important 

 to the Social Wasps that theirs should be 

 arranged methodically, for otherwise the 

 enormous household, degenerating into a tur- 

 bulent mob, could not possibly be served. 



To lodge the mother's inexhaustible sup- 

 ply of eggs, they have to build for her, 

 within a limited space, the greatest possible 

 number of cells, all of a capacity determined 

 by the ultimate size of the larvae. This con- 

 dition exacts a strict economy of the available 

 building-site. No empty gaps, therefore, 

 which would take up unnecessary room and 

 moreover compromise the general solidity of 

 the structure. 



Nor is this all. The business-man says to 

 himself: 



" Time is money." 



The Wasp, no less busy, says to herself: 



" Time is paper; paper means a more spa- 

 cious dwelling, holding a larger population. 

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