J 48 HYMENOPTERA ACULEATA. 



DIPLOPTERA. 



Two only of the families of wasps are represented in this 

 country, the Vespidas and the Eumenidse ; the former 

 is composed of social species, the latter of solitary. 

 The social wasps, which include the hornet, are so well 

 known that no one will have any difficulty in recognizing 

 them ; they make their nests of a papery substance 

 formed out of the masticated fibre of wood, or sometimes 

 of actual paper, as coloured stripes occasioned by the use 

 of this material have frequently been observed in the sub- 

 stance of their nests. The ? passes the winter in an im- 

 pregnated state, and sets to work in the spring to found a 

 new colony ; according to Smith, she commences by making 

 a footstalk sufficient to support the first two or three layers 

 of cells, and at the end of it she commences three cells, 

 makes an umbrella-like cover over them and begins to lay 

 her eggs, after which she adds more cells ; as the workers 

 hatch out they help to make the nest. The cells are ar- 

 ranged in layers, and a large nest, according to Smith, may 

 contain as many as 2500 to 2C00 individuals. Packard says 

 that the females feed their larvae " with food chewed up and 

 reduced to a pulp," and Westwood that "the egg state 

 lasts eight days, the larva state thirteen or fourteen, and 

 that of the pupa about ten. After the imago has been pro- 

 duced, one of the old workers cleans out the cell, and fits it 

 for the reception of a fresh inhabitant. The upper tier of 

 cells, being first built, serves for the habitation of the 

 workers ; the females, being produced at the end of the 

 summer, occupy the lowest tier." Some species of wasps 

 always build above ground, either in a bush or in the branches 

 of a tree ; some almost always in the ground, but occasionally 

 in an outhouse or verandah ; while the hornet, as a rule, 

 chooses a hollow tree, although it has been known to build 

 in a bank. The habits of F. autsfnaca (arhorea Sm.) are 

 not yet fully uudurstoud, only males and females are known, 



