44 



Rambles witb mature Students 



seems a curious arrangement, but the grubs are in 

 some way enabled to hold on by their tails, so that 

 they never fall out, and as they grow they line their 

 cells with a kind of silk, change their skins several 

 times, become chrysalides, and then in due time 

 push off the cover of their cell and crawl out perfect 

 wasps. They are pale-coloured and weakly at first, 



1. Vespa Germanica. 



2. Vespa rufa. 



3. Vespa vulgaris. 



4. Vespa sylvestris. 



but soon gain strength and colour and begin life on 

 their own account. 



As soon as the mother wasp finds that her eggs 

 are beginning to hatch, she leaves off building cells, 

 and spends her time in feeding her young brood of 

 grubs, and goes on doing so until they are full 

 grown. In a little while she finds herself surrounded 

 by crowds of obedient worker wasps, and by their 



