SOCIAL WASPS AND HORNTAILS 71 



years, as was the case in 1878 and 1880, they are so 

 numerous as to be a positive plague, and in others com- 

 paratively few are seen. 



In country places, wasps' nests are not unfrequently 

 found in thatched roofs or under the eaves of houses, as 

 well as attached to beams in lofts, barns, and outhouses. 

 Even the ground- wasps sometimes select such situations, 

 and the hornet, too, occasionally establishes itself in a 

 loft or barn. Sometimes amongst thatch are found 

 numbers of the rudimentary nests constructed by the 

 queens only, which have never advanced beyond their 

 primitive condition, having been, for some reason or 

 other, abandoned shortly after their construction. 



The insects themselves are quite omnivorous in their 

 tastes; one might almost say, " Whatever man can 

 eat, that wasps can eat." The swarms that, in a hot 

 summer, crowd the windows of country grocers' and 

 bakers' shops are a pretty good proof of this. Sweets 

 of all kinds, including ripe fruits, are very attractive 

 to them ; but cakes and bread, or even meat, will also 

 be readily devoured. Living insects, too, they catch 

 in great numbers, especially flies, and it has been well 

 remarked that, while they will at one moment be 

 robbing the butcher by devouring his meat, they will 

 at the next be making valuable restitution by devour- 

 ing the flies that would lay their eggs upon it; arid 

 it is probable that the advantage that accrues to us 

 through their destruction of so many disagreeable in- 

 sects is more than sufficient to counterbalance any loss 

 we may sustain through their attacks upon our fruit 

 and other stores. In catching their insect prey they 

 are very dexterous. Professor West wood says, " I have 

 watched the common wasp hovering over and darting 

 hawk-like upon flies upon excrement, careful not to 



