276 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



species of the Social Wasps, the best known of which, a* 

 the common Wasp, build their nests of a stout brown 

 paper, which they manufacture from bits of wood and 

 bark. Like the paper-maker among men, they reduce 

 their material to a pulp, and then spread it out thinly, 

 which, drying speedily, becomes firm paper. In Fig. 

 314 you see the arrangement of the nest of the Social 



a 



a 



Fig. 214. 



Wasps. Each floor of cells hangs from the floor above 

 it by rods. At a a is the outer wall, made of many lay- 

 ers of brown paper ; at b and c are five terraces of cells 

 for the neuter Wasps ; and at d and e are 

 three rows of larger cells for the males 

 and females. In Fig. 215 is a representa- 

 tion of a portion of one of these terraces, 

 with its rod. 



472. The family Formicidae, or Ants, 

 Fig. 215. are placed in a different order from the 



