352 INSECTS AT HOME. 



to be expended on. Accordingly, they fix a number of papier- 

 mache pillars to the mouths of the cells of the first tier, and 

 to them they suspend a second tier of cells. A third, fourth, 

 and fifth tier follow in rapid succession ; and, as the nest is 

 enlarged, so the covering is enlarged in proportion. Some- 

 times the Common Wasp builds its nest in a hollow tree or 

 in some similar locality ; and it is remarkable that the 

 covering of the nest is, in this case, very different from that 

 which is employed when the insect builds an underground 

 habitation. In the latter case the nest is surrounded with 

 layer after layer of paper, so as to protect the cells in case the 

 sides or any of the earthen chambers should collapse ; but in 

 the former case the covering is quite thin, and scarcely con- 

 tains a tenth of the material that is needful for the sub- 

 terranean nest. 



Whatever may be the shape of the nest, the Wasp never 

 leaves the cells without a covering. Knowing this instinct, 

 Mr. Stone induced Wasps to build nests in any form which he 

 liked, simply by arranging pieces of the comb and waiting till 

 the Wasps had covered them. For this purpose he prepared a 

 series of boxes, and actually induced a single swarm of Wasps 

 to build six complete nests, and to begin a seventh. These 

 nests were of all kinds of shapes. One, for example, was like 

 an hom-glass, another like a claret-jug without its handle, 

 another like a stalactite cavern, and so forth. Indeed, when I 

 last saw him, he said that he meant in the following spring to 

 make the Wasps build a nest shaped like St. Paul's cathedral, 

 and I have not the least doubt that he would have suc- 

 ceeded. 



Wasps feed chiefly on other insects, though they are very 

 fond of ripe fruit and sugar, and have a fashion of picking out 

 t]je ripest part of the choicest fruit in a way that is anything 

 but agreeable to the gardener. Flies they eat in great abund- 

 ance, and, at Walton Hall, I have seen the Wasps flying by 

 hundreds into the pig-sties, and carrying off the flies as they 

 swarmed upon the pigs that were luxuriously basking in the 

 sun. Thus they are not without their usefulness, and, unless 

 they swarm to a great extent, certainly do more good than 

 harm. There are two species of Wasp which are very much 

 alike. These are the Common Wasp [Vespa vulgaris), and 



