30 SECRETS OF ANIMAL LIFE 



There are, as we have seen, thoroughly solitary 

 wasps, and there are those that form a community. 

 Between the two there are wasps that build their 

 nests in close proximity each making its own, 

 however and there are wasps that hibernate in 

 companies. That this gregariousness may be of 

 protective value is practically certain, but it is very 

 unlikely that the social state was reached along 

 this line. Roubaud's view is that the social life had 

 its beginnings in "filial associations/' Daughters 

 were hatched in the nest while their mother was 

 still about; if the stores were abundant and if 

 there were plenty of younger sisters to supply elixir, 

 then it would be easier for the elder daughters to 

 see their way to remain at home and collaborate 

 with their mother in the nurtural task. As Verhoeff 

 also has maintained, the wasp-community is not 

 the outcome of grouping, but of filial association, 

 and Roubaud's addition (toned down a little) is that 

 the elixir makes the corporate life run smoothly. 

 We must remember that we are dealing with 

 arrangements of prodigious antiquity, for wasp 

 societies date back to Oligocene ages (perhaps two 

 million years ago), and are thus much older than 

 human societies. There has been plenty of time for 

 experimenting. 



To those who would puzzle over origins the case 

 of a primitive social wasp called Belonogaster is 

 peculiarly instructive. In hard times the Belono- 

 gaster queen reverts to the solitary regime and 

 brings up only one larva at a time. When things 



