VESPA'S STING 



89 



It seems that — *'A picket of Lord 

 Clyde's army were amusing themselves 

 throwing stones at an odd-looking mass 

 of mud and straw hanging on a tree. 

 One marksman, more successful than his 

 comrades, sent a stone with great effect 

 into the centre of the mysterious object, 

 when out flew a cloud of hornets and 

 drove Lord Clyde's invincibles into the 

 river." 



The sting of the wasp is like 

 that of the bee in structure 

 and action. 



It is composed of a sharp- 

 pointed sheath with a length- 

 wise groove on one side, into 

 which are fitted two barbed 

 lances that play up and down 

 in the groove. 



The lances are moved by a system of 

 levers composed of flat horny plates con- 

 nected to the upper end of the sheath and 

 lances and controlled by muscles. 



