3004 



between the parasitic wasps described above and the Vespidce, but little is known. 

 Some kinds are, however, parasitic, and possibly many may be so. On the other 

 hand, the Eumenidce are solitary wasps, which make their nests chiefly in mud walls 

 or sandstone cliffs; some constructing a series of mud cells in hollow stems of plants, 

 and supplying their grubs with caterpillars for food. A well-known European ex- 

 ample is the figured Odynerus parietum, a variable insect, making its appearance in 

 May and June. The nests are made in holes of old mud walls, or the banks of clay 

 pits, and are filled with grubs of beetles belonging to the family Chrysomelidce, or 

 with the caterpillars of small moths. 



SOCIAL WASPS Family VESPIDJE 



The members of this group form a link between the foregoing and the true 

 bees, since each species includes a fertile female or queen, unfertile females or 

 workers, and males or drones. The nests are formed of a kind of paper manu- 

 factured from the dry parings of old posts and trees. Since we have already dealt 

 briefly with the general habits of the Vespida, further reference to them, save as. 



b c 



UFE HISTORY OF THE HORNET, 

 a. b. Adult; c Portion of brood cells; d. I^arva; e. Pupa, (d and e somewhat enlarged.) 



occasion for their mention arises in the course of subsequent description of species, 

 will be unnecessary. The members of the family may themselves be distinguished 

 at once from all other Hymenoptera by the peculiar arrangement of the wings 

 when folded at rest. The fore-wings partly inclose the hind-wings, both pairs 

 lying along the sides of the abdomen, not concealing it from above. The food of 

 wasps consists of the saccharine matter derived from various vegetable products 



