HYMENOPTERA. 369 



The wasps are distinguished from the bees by a decided charac- 

 teristic. In a state of repose they fold together their upper wings, 

 which then seem very umtow, only spreading them out when they are 

 about to fly ; whilst the latter when at rest keep their upper wings 

 spread out. 



Wasps live in companies, which last only a year, and are composed 

 of males, females, and workers. But the female wasp does not pass 

 her entire life in idleness as a queen, like the mother hive bee. She 

 occupies herself in making the nest and in taking care of the young, 

 like the mother humble bee. The males have also their duties. They 



Fig- 345. — Common Wasp {Ves/>a vulgaris'). Fig. 346.— Bush Wasp {Vespa nofvegica). 



watch over the cleanliness of the habitation, and are the sanitary 

 commissioners and undertakers to the city. These are easily recog- 

 nised by their oblong bodies, having so slight a connection with the 

 thorax, as it were by a thread. 



Their sting is larger than that of the bees, and is supplied with 

 poison from a pouch placed at its base. The males have no sting. 

 Wasps do not secrete wax. With their mandibles they scrape wood 

 and plants, the fragments of which they agglutinate together in such a 

 way as to form a tough cardboard. Thus, they invented the manu- 

 facture of paper long before men. Charles de Geer, in his celebrated 

 work, sums up the habits of these insects in the following manner : — 

 "Wasps," says he, " are, like bees, fond of sweets and honey, although 

 they rarely seek them in flowers ; but their principal food consists in 

 matters of quite a different kind, such as fruits of all kinds, raw flesh, 

 and live insects, which they seize and devour. They sometimes do 

 dreadful damage in beehives, devouring the honey, and killing the 

 bees. They do not gather wax ; their nests and their combs are 

 composed of a matter resembling grey paper, which they get from 

 rotten wood, and which they scrape off with their jaws ; they make a 

 sort of paste of these scrapings by moistening them with a certain 



