Social Wasps* 



397 



upon what she had hoped to hnd. She laid bare a smah portion of a tough brown 

 root that ran horizontahy through her roof. That was enougli digging for the 

 time. Going outside into the open air, she earefully took her bearings of the 

 entrance-hole, and then set off on her wings. A short flight brought her to a long 

 stretch of oak fencing which had absorbed a lot of sunshine, and was warm and 

 dry. Here she set to work with her jaws again, shaving off the finest possible 

 films of wood from its surface, and grinding this up in her jaws, and mixing it with 

 saliva until she had a little pile of wood-pulp. With this she flew home, and spread 

 it out evenly in a band 

 around part of the root in 

 the roof. Incessant jour- 

 neys follow, and i)ellels ol 

 wood - pulp innumerable 

 are brought home, to be 

 worked up into coarse but 

 thiri ])aper, with which she 

 constructs a sort of stick- 

 less umbrella depending 

 from the band on the root. 

 Then under the umbrella 

 she constructs her first 

 comb. There are only a 

 few cells at first, and these 

 are quite shallow when she 

 lays an egg in each. Then 

 she sets to again excavat- 

 ing to make her royal hall 

 larger and more regular in 

 shape. She adds to the 

 edges of the umbrella and 

 makes it broad above and 

 narrow below. Then an 

 outer umbrella jM-otects 

 this balloon-shai)ed bag 

 open at the bottom. The 

 eggs hatch, and food must 

 be obtained for the grubs. 

 This she gets bv flying out 

 and pouncing upon almost the first Insect she sees — fly, butterfly, or moth. lhi\ ing 

 secured a prize of some sort, she cjuickly severs the \\ings, legs, and head as being 

 too hard for her purpose ; she carries off the trunk and masticates portions, with 

 which shi' feeds the grubs from her mouth to theirs. 



It should be >tated thai the cells live buill oni\- on the uiidrr dde of the comb, 

 and with their opcm ends downwards and apparently, the grub keeps its hold of the 

 fixed egg-shell to enable it to retain a position in the open cell. It rapidly increases 



A Oueen-\Vasi''s Nest. 



l/:. ."^U-p, I'.L.S. 



I'lu' pii'ltv little iK'St here shown is the unaided work of the queen, and serves as a 

 shilter for the small brood that oceupios tlie few cells of her first comb. When the 

 tjnibs liave developed into wasps they are found to be all workers, and at once relieve 

 tlieir mother from building and nursing. The nest is rapidly enlarged, the walls being 

 nbuilt again and again to acconiinodate broader and more numerous combs. Natur- 

 ally tlie nest should have been suspended in a bush, but a roof of some sort often 

 serves instead. .•\bout one-third of the actual size. 



