v SOCIAL HOMES 181 



must sink through. The insects take the further 

 precaution of turning them towards the north or 

 north-east, because during the summer and autumn 

 in these climates the strong cold winds, and those 

 that bring rain, usually come from the opposite 

 quarter. Their impermeability is increased by a 

 varnish, probably a glutinous liquor, secreted by the 

 wasps, which is well rubbed on to the papery sur- 

 faces. 



Though each species seems to have a form of nest 

 which it favours, still one hard and fast line is by no 

 means adhered to ; seemingly the Polistes approve of 

 the maxim that circumstances alter cases. Many of 

 the dwellings are circular or approach the round 

 (see Fig. 28), some are as though compressed, 

 some oval, some simply composed of one or two 

 long lines of cells, some are eccentric, forming at 

 first a triangle which is finished with a rounded 

 end. The solid foundation of the comb and the 

 strong slender pedicle* that maintains it may be 

 central ; in other cases it projects entirely from 

 one side of the support (see Fig. 29). The nests 

 never reach a great size, often there is only one tier ; 

 additional combs are attached by pillars or foot- stalks 

 as in Vespa. The cells are roundish, and remarkable 

 in that their bases are a trifle smaller than their 

 mouths, a divergence hardly noticeable in the single 

 cell, but which produces a spreading outline when a 

 number are massed together. Those in the middle 

 are large and long, and generally closed, indicating 

 that the larvae are within, undergoing their transform- 

 ations to perfect insects. As a rule the peripheral 



