THE WASP. 123 



it thrusts out its legs and wings, and insensibly 

 acquires the colour and shape of its parent. 



The wasp thus formed and prepared for depre- 

 dation, becomes a bold, troublesome, and danger- 

 ous insect : there are no dangers which it will 

 not encounter in pursuit of its prey, and nothing 

 seems to satiate its gluttony. Though it can ga- 

 ther no honey of its own, no animal is more fond 

 of sweets. For this purpose, it will pursue the 

 bee and the humble-bee, destroy them with its 

 sting, and then plunder them of their honey-bag, 

 with which it flies triumphantly loaded to its nest 

 to regale its young. Wasps are ever fond of 

 making their nests in the neighbourhood of bees, 

 merely to have an opportunity of robbing their 

 hives and feasting on the spoil. Yet the bees are 

 not found always patiently submissive to their 

 tyranny, but fierce battles are sometimes seen to 

 ensue, in which the bees make up by conduct and 

 numbers what -they want in personal prowess. 

 When there is no honey to be had, they seek for 

 the best and sweetest fruits, and they are never 

 mistaken in their choice. From the garden they 

 fly to the city, to the grocers' shops and butchers' 

 shambles. They will sometimes carry off bits of 

 flesh half as big as themselves, with which they 

 fly to their nest for the nourishment of their brood. 

 Those who cannot drive them away, lay for them 

 a piece of ox's liver, which being without fibres, 

 they prefer to other flesh ; and wherever they 

 are found, all other flies are seen to desert the 

 place immediately. Such is the dread with which 

 these little animals impress all the rest of the 



