ANTS AND WASPS 61 



The ants we have just been considering are genuine 

 household insects, spending the whole of their lives in 

 the shelter of our abodes, breeding amongst us, and 

 bringing up their extensive families year after year in 

 the same spot, as long as provisions are plentiful in 

 the immediate neighbourhood. But this is not the case 

 with the wasps, the next section of the Hymenoptera 

 which will engage our attention. It is true that 

 occasionally their nests are found in outhouses or lofts, 

 or under the eaves of thatched roofs ; but this is ex- 

 ceptional, and, as a rule, they enter our houses only 

 in their adult condition ; still, they are then such tire- 

 some pests at least, in imagination, if not always in 

 reality that we cannot forbear to grant them a place 

 amongst our household insects. 



Notwithstanding the popular prejudice against wasps, 

 there are many points of interest in connection with 

 them. Their economy is remarkable, and inferior in 

 interest only to that of bees and ants ; their courage 

 is certainly extraordinary; and though they are fre- 

 quently an annoyance to us through their intrusive 

 habits, yet there are, as we shall presently see, some 

 counterbalancing advantages following from their mode 

 of life ; and, finally, their character is not really quite 

 so black as it has been painted. That they are not, 

 as some people seem to suppose, actuated by an irre- 

 concilable hostility to human kind has been sufficiently 

 demonstrated by observers, who, like Sir John Lubbock, 

 have closely studied their habits, and have found it 

 possible to tame them and make pets of them, and to 

 induce even such fiery-tempered beings calmly to feed 

 out of their hands, and to crawl over their persons 

 without bringing their murderous weapons into requi- 

 sition. Indeed, one observer, Dr. Ormerod, expressed 



