208 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



pupa lies all winter in its cell, not coming 

 forth until the following spring. 



The mother wasp dies soon after the 

 eggs are laid, but if she is hatched late in 

 the season and does not lay her eggs, then 

 she crawls into some safe crevice and 

 lies dormant, like the queen vespa, until 

 spring. 



Egg-laying seems to be the culmination 

 of an insect's life, and nearly all of them 

 die as soon as the eggs are laid and the 

 future of their race is thus assured. The 

 wasp is no exception to this general rule ; 

 she will live through the winter in order 

 to lay her eggs the following season, but 

 if she lays them she dies at the approach 

 of winter. The queen bee, that lives sev- 

 eral years, is one of the few exceptions to 

 the rule. Generally the mud-daubers build 

 new cells for their progeny, but individual 

 wasps differ as much as individuals of any 

 other race of animals ; and occasionally one 

 will use an old nest, cleaning out the 



