400 



Marvels of Insect Life, 



going wasps had no longer to turn sharply on going out. Detractors of the wasp 

 would contend, probably, that this was done from a desire to damage human property, 

 as usual ; butthere were hundreds of square yards of the netting, and it was curious that 

 the only place cut was immediately facing their doorway. We covered the gap with 

 another piece of netting, and next day that was cut through. A second supple- 

 mentary piece was served in the same way, and satisfied that the damage had been 

 done to meet a real need, we forebore to give them further trouble. 



Wasps appear to be very sensitive to cold, and with the exception of the newly 

 emerged females, who take care to hibernate in some sheltered retreat, all the 

 community die off in autumn. By this time the wasp-nest has largely increased. 

 Time after time the industrious workers have had to enlarge the hole in which 

 the nest hangs. Then to allow room for the enlargement of every comb by the 



/' : ". [/. Holme.'. 



Stages in a Wasp's Life. 

 The extreme right-hand figure of the lower series shows a newly hatched grub, and the next four figures 'show stages in gro.vth until 

 it is full fed. The next two show the newly formed chrysalis, all white excepting the eyes. The two extreme left-hand figures show, 

 from above and below, the chrysalis when the wasp is ready for emergence. 



addition of new cells to its margins, the inner layers of the paper walls have had 

 to be cut away and new layers added to the outside to keep up the previous thickness 

 which is necessary in order to maintain the warmth of the nest. New combs have 

 had to be built until there are from six to ten of them, suspended one from the 

 other. The cells that contain grubs destined to develop into perfect females and 

 males are much larger than the others which have produced the smaller workers. 



During the period of great activity in the wasps' nest, when thousands of 

 grubs have to be fed several times a day, there is little fruit ripe enough or sweet 

 enough to tempt the wasps. There are strawberries it is true, but for some reason 

 the wasp does not appear to touch them. We have had two average-sized nests 

 under a bed of strawberries, but we could never detect a single wasp eating the 

 fruit. Tt may be that the strawberry is too acid for their taste, but our impression 



