uro^iMA^W FINISHING THE NEST 



THE first wasp that emerges from a nest 

 is not a queen. 



It is smaller than the queen-mother, is 

 not so brightly coloured, and is called a 

 " worker." It is an imperfect female, un- 

 able, as a rule, to lay eggs. The first thing 

 it wants is something to eat, and this the 

 queen-mother gives it. 



It very often hides away in an empty 

 cell for a while, as though to rest, or 

 " think it over.'' When it goes into a cell 

 it now does so head first, with only its tail 

 protruding. 



The time for development from tgg to 

 imago, or perfect insect, seems to vary, 

 perhaps according to the species, perhaps 

 according to the temperature. One ob- 

 server reports his wasps as five days in the 

 egg, nine in the larval state, and thirteen 

 in the pupal state, — twenty-seven days in 

 no 



