222 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Our Common Wasps. By Henry Reeks, Esq., F.L.S. 



There are four species of wasps, besides the hornet 

 (V. Crabro), which I presume are very common, and gene- 

 rally distributed throughout the British Isles, namely, Vespa 

 rufa, V. germanica, V. sylvestris, and Y. vulgaris. Of these 

 V. sylvestris is the connecting link between the ground- 

 building and the tree-building wasps, as it does not confine 

 itself particularly to either situation, although it is more 

 frequently found building under the thatch, or tiles of walls, 

 outhouses, &c. 



I quite agree with you in advising your readers (Entom. 

 vii. 211), where practicable, to take the whole nest, and 

 examine and pin out at least a good series of the inmates: 

 this is certainly advisable, and absolutely necessary with new 

 or little-known species; but with the above-mentioned 

 common species there cannot be much confusion, — unless 

 books tend to make such confusion, — for they are so very 

 distinctively marked, that when once known they can 

 scarcely ever be mistaken again. I have no work on wasps, 

 nor any specimens by me for scientific comparison, but I 

 trust the following general remarks will enable most of your 

 readers to recognize at a glance the common forms mentioned 

 above : — 



V. rufa has a black anchor-shaped mark down the middle 

 of the face, without a dot on either side of the lower end of 

 the mark. The abdomen is banded, as usual, black and 

 yellow, with a dash of rufous on the 1st and 2nd segments, 

 but most plainly on the 2nd. The black bands are very 

 narrow, with a tongue-like mark of the same colour beneath 

 and joined to each band, and with a conspicuous black dot 

 on each side of the tongue-like projection. This species is 

 the smallest of the four here mentioned, and builds its nest 

 under ground, using sound wood for its construction, and 

 working until very late in the autumn, even to the beginning 

 of November. 



The species most resembling V. rufa is V. germanica, but 

 this is easily distinguished by its never having a perfectly- 

 formed anchor-shaped mark on the face, and also by always 

 lacking the rufous markings on the 1st and 2nd segments of 

 the abdomen. The face of V. germanica is most commonly 



