3/2 ARTICULATES I INSECTS. 



form and gay colors remind us of the wasps. It enters 

 the nests of Andrena, and feeds upon its food. 



VESPARI.E, Latr., OR WASP FAMILY. This Family com- 

 prises hymenoptera which fold their wings longitudinally. 

 The Genus Vespa contains those that live in colonies, 

 composed of males, females, and workers. They con- 

 struct complex nests, either under ground or attached to 

 bushes, trees, fences, or buildings. These nests consist 

 of several tiers of hexagonal cells, with their mouths 

 downward, supported by pedicels, and all surrounded by 

 a paper-like substance gnawed from wood or the bark 

 of trees, and reduced to a paste by the action of the 

 jaws. The cells in a single nest sometimes number six- 

 teen thousand. Unlike the Hive-Bee, the communities 

 of Wasps are dissolved annually on the approach of win- 

 ter. The males die and the females disperse, seeking a 

 sheltered winter retreat. Each female that survives the 

 winter lays the foundations of a new colony in the spring, 

 building a small nest in which she lays her eggs, from 

 which hatch a community composed entirely of workers. 

 These assist the parent ; and at length, in autumn, three 

 generations have been produced, the last composed of 

 males and females, the community has become very large, 

 and the few-celled nest has grown to one containing 

 thousands of cells. The Hornet, V. crabro, Linn., was 

 introduced into this country from Europe. 



The Genus Polistes contains wasps which build an 

 Fig. 275^ open nest of comparatively 



few cells, arranged in one 

 tier, and attached by a short 

 pedicel. The Genera Ody- 

 nerus and Eumenes comprise 

 the Solitary Wasps, which 

 build nests of sand, and store 

 them with other insects. 



Wasp, P. pallipes, Lapel. 



