1897-98-] Wasps: Their Life- History and Habits. 343 



and freshness of bright-yellow and black. Some queens are 

 almost entirely yellow, others nearly black ; and in certain 

 seasons queens appear in enormous numbers. If the sun 

 shines, they will usually be seen sitting upon the leaf of some 

 shrub, the stem of a tree, or a wooden paling — in fact, upon 

 almost anything the sun shines on except a stone wall ; they 

 very rarely sit upon it, and only where sheltered from cold 

 winds. It appears as if the chief end of their existence was 

 to sit about and sun themselves. Many a time I have seen 

 one sit on the same leaf for over an hour at a time. How- 

 ever, if we watch her we shall see that she has some other 

 end in view, for after resting for a while, away she flies 

 leisurely along, keeping a sharp look-out for two things — viz., 

 food and a suitable place on or in which to build her house, 

 where a very large family is to be reared. We watch her 

 flying along : she will be in and out among the trees, shrubs, 

 and other things about. Next she will be under the bank, or 

 skim along the bare ground into every hole and cavity, among 

 grass, moss, or any other low plants, but always on the wing. 

 Again she gets up to the trees and shrubs, flying along the 

 sides of them, when suddenly she alights upon a leaf, but not 

 to rest this time, for if we look more carefully we shall see 

 that she has swooped down on the top of a poor fly who was 

 resting on that leaf. If a small fly, and not disturbed, she 

 will very likely dine off it there and then ; if large, I don't 

 know where she goes with it, but all the large flies are 

 carried away. Of all the large flies I have seen caught, I 

 have never once observed the queen wasp dine off one. My 

 idea is that, not being able to comfortably hold a large one 

 on a leaf, she flies off to some warm bank, there to feast in 

 comfort. This kind of work goes on for two or three weeks ; 

 then we begin to see some variation. A queen will be heard 

 or seen preparing material for making paper with which to 

 construct her future home. If we hear a low rasping sound 

 and look around, we shall be sure to find a piece of paper 

 on which is a queen wasp, scraping off with her strong 

 mandibles some of the fibres with which she is to make her 

 own paper. If we do not hear one, we shall be sure to see 

 one on a decaying tree stump, the dead branch of a tree, or 

 an unpainted paling rail. In some seasons it is by no means 

 difficult to see them, as they are very numerous. One year, 



