VESPA'S STING 79 



Most of the wasp's organs of digestion 

 are packed away in the abdomen, and here 

 is the capacious stomach. At the tip of 

 the abdomen is the wasp's serviceable 

 weapon which is also, in the queen, the 

 ovipositor or egg- placer. 



The wasp, like the bee, carries its sting 

 in its tail, or, as Moffett vividly expresses 

 it, "Their tayle is armed with a long, 

 stiffe and exceeding venomous sting," 

 and concerning the efficiency of this 

 weapon there is but one opinion. 



From early ages to the present time the 

 " fiery darts of the wasps " have furnished 

 illustrations of invincible attack ; as when 

 Homer, in the Iliad, speaking of the valour 

 of the Greeks, causes one of the enemy 

 to exclaim amazed, — 



'M did not look to see the men of Greece 

 Stand thus before our might and our strong arms ; 

 Yet they, like pliant -bodied wasps or bees, 

 That build their cells beside the rocky way, 

 And quit not their abode, but, waiting there 



