STARTING THE NEST IO3 



thrust all these little heads, and the mouths 

 are opened wide, for they suppose that 

 Mother Vespa is coming to feed them. 



When a number of the eggs have 

 hatched, Vespa devotes most of her time 

 to catching flies and other insects, chew- 

 ing them up and feeding the hungry 

 youngsters in the cells with them. 



One is reminded of a mother bird feed- 

 ing her nestlings, when watching the 

 mother wasp going from cell to cell, and 

 putting food into each little open mouth. 



The larvae are always ready to open their 

 mouths, and it is no wonder they are for- 

 ever asking for more, as they grow at a 

 marvellous rate, in the course of a few 

 days filling their cradle cells with their 

 plump, white bodies. 



One trying ordeal every young Vespa 

 has to pass through, and that is the change 

 of position in its downward-opening cell. 

 Since the egg is glued to an angle of the 

 cell part way down, when it hatches, the 



