v SOCIAL HOMES 175 



lingering death by starvation that would be theirs 

 were they left neglected within the nest. 



Occasionally V. vulgaris dispenses with a burrow, 

 and builds from beams in the corners of outhouses ; 

 under a thatched roof is also a favourite locality. 



Among the British Tree Wasps, which habitually 

 make pensile nests, the best known is Vespa Britan- 

 nica. In the South and West of England it is rare, 

 but is plentiful in Scotland. Its lovely globe-like 

 dwellings it boldly suspends from the extremities of 

 branches of trees and shrubs, chiefly the fir and the 

 gooseberry. V. sylvestris has a wider distribution, 

 but is scarcely so common, and is a burrower at 

 times. The outer shell or envelope of the pensile 

 nest, very fine and choice in relation to the covering 

 of the subterranean combs of the common wasp, is 

 made of a smooth and white-gray paper, its individual 

 flakes being sharply defined. It is impervious to 

 water, and protects the combs admirably, to which 

 however it is never attached. The opening is at the 

 lowest part, and underneath, and is sufficiently large 

 to give free entrance and exit. For beauty, delicacy, 

 and utility, the Tree Wasp's nest is unrivalled (see 

 Fig. 27). 



As the population of a wasp community increases 

 and the cells must be augmented, laborious is the 

 undertaking, since it necessitates that the inner sheets 

 of the covering be cut away to make room for the 

 greater size of the comb, or combs, while faster than 

 these are removed additional layers are formed 

 externally, to maintain, and even to slightly add to, 

 the thickness of the walls. Thus is the human 



