LEGS AND WINGS 



SIX is the allotted number of legs in the 

 insect world, and this number has 

 Vespa. They, with her wings, are borne 

 by the compact thorax, whose value in in- 

 sectdom is principally for affording points 

 of attachment to the organs of progression, 

 and a place of support for the muscles that 

 move those organs. 



Like the bees, the wasps are eternally 

 making their toilet. 



Vespa, like a neat old tabby-cat, washes 

 her face and hands with her tongue. She 

 puts her paws, so to speak, in her mouth 

 and licks them clean, then while they are 

 presumably still damp, she draws them 

 over her head, turning that important part 

 of her diminutive person this side and that, 

 very much as puss does when performing 

 the same office. 



69 



