OBSERVATIONS ON INSECT LIFE 179 



though they turned the wasp about in every direction, 

 could not confuse its guiding sense and turn it from 

 the true road. 



I gave the wasps one of their own dead comrades. 

 The cannibals rushed upon it. One seized the body in 

 its claws and endeavoured to rise into the air, but, 

 powerful as are the wings of these insects, they are 

 unable to raise twice the body-weight, so the wasp 

 had to cease its efforts. Then a companion appeared 

 on the scene. One seized the dead comrade by the 

 head, the other by the abdomen ; they both drove 

 their strong mandibles into the thorax and soon 

 divided the wasp just in front of the wings. The 

 one grasped the head and made off straightway 

 on its journey ; the other struggled with the larger 

 share, rose twice, and again fell beneath the heavy 

 weight, but, rising higher in the third effort, it at 

 last took wing for the nest, to add the body 

 of its dead companion to the food of the growing 

 larvae. 



Vespa orientalis used to construct its nest in the 

 mud walls or roofs of the village houses. Through a 

 narrow aperture the wasps enter into a spacious 

 chamber in which is suspended the papery comb with 

 its rows of hexagonal cells. I noticed that this wasp 

 was in the habit of ventilating its nest by creating a 

 current of air with the rapid vibration of its wings. I 

 observed two wasps stationed at the aperture of the 

 nest fanning with all their strength. It seemed clear 

 that their object was to direct a current of fresh cool 

 air into the interior of the tunnel. 



These wasps also post a sentinel at the nest aperture. 

 The sentry is most earnest in its duty. It challenges 



