S7^ AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 



their existence, from their birth to their death, to this 

 one occupation! 



The common hive-bee and the wasp in their atten- 

 tion to their young exhibit the same general features. 

 Both build for their reception hexagonal cells, differ- 

 ing in size according to the future sex of the included 

 grubs, which as soon as hatched they both feed and 

 assiduously tend until their transformation into pupce. 

 There are peculiarities, however, in their modes of pro- 

 cedure, Avhich require a distinct notice. 



The economy of a nest of zi)asps differs from that of 

 bees, in that the eggs are laid not by a single mother 

 or queen, but by several; and that these mothers take 

 the same care as the workers in feeding the young 

 grubs : indeed those first hatched are fed entirely by 

 the female which produced them, the solitary founder 

 of the colony. The sole survivor probably of a last 

 year's swarm of many thousands, this female^ as soon 

 as revived by the warmth of spring-, proceeds to con- 

 struct a few cells, and deposits in them the eggs of 

 working wasps. The eggs are covered with a gluten, 

 which fixes them so strongly against the sides of the 

 cells, that it is not easy to separate them unbroken. 

 These eggs seem to require care from the time they 

 are laid, for the wasps many times in a day put their 

 heads into the cells which contain them. When they 

 are hatched, it is amusing to witness the activity with 

 which the female runs from cell to cell, putting her 

 head into those in which the grubs are very young, 

 while those that are more advanced in age thrust their 

 heads out of their cells, and by little movements seem 



