THE WASP. 



529 



insect with a sting ; to be longer in propor- 

 tion to its bulk than the bee, to be marked 

 with bright yellow circles round its body, and 

 to be the most swift and active insect of all 





dustry, and approximate to the former in the extent of 

 their ravages. The bee, continually occupied with its 

 labours, lives only on what it gathers from flowers, and 

 the sting with which it is armed, is merely a defensive 

 weapon, never unsheathed but for the protection of itself 

 or its country. But the wasp, on the contrary, is fero- 

 cious, and subsists only on rapine and destruction. Its 

 sting is an offensive weapon, a means of overpowering 

 animals more feeble than itself. Nevertheless it is not 

 less ingenious than the others, nor less attached to its 

 oiispring. United in a single republic, the wasps spare 

 neither care nor labour. The works which they perform 

 evince their dexterity, their patience, and the delicacy 

 of their instinct. The peculiar style of their architec- 

 ture is worthy of admiration. 



Among them we particularly distinguish two species, the 

 hornet (yespa crabrd), and the common wasp (vulgaris}. 

 The first makes its nests sheltered from winds and heavy 

 rains, either in barns or the holes of old walls, but most 

 frequently in the large trunks of trees, the interior of 

 which is rotten. There these insects form a large cavity, 

 hy detaching fragments of the wood, which is ready to 

 fall into dust. It is in spring that the females, after hav- 

 ing passed the winter in a lethargic state, and now re- 

 animated by the heat of the atmosphere, issue from their 

 retreat, to find out a suitable place in which to establish 

 tlieir nest. This place once found, they lay there the 

 first foundations of the edifice, which consist of a thick 

 and solid pillar of the same material as the rest of the 

 nest, but much harder, and more compact. The mate- 

 rial of which the wasps makes use, is the bark of the 

 slender branches of the ash, which they detach in fila- 

 ments. Then they grind and bruise it with their man- 

 dibles, so as to form a paste, which hardens after it has 

 been employed in building. Thy collect, at the same 

 time, a clear and saccharine fluid, which drops from the 

 places which have been recently gnawed from the branch 

 which they have been despoiling. This pillar is always 

 placed in the most elevated part of the vault, and the 

 hornets attach to it a sort of cap or covering of the same 

 material, which is to serve as a roof to the edifice, and 

 prevent the dirt, &c., detached from the upper part of 

 the ground cavity, from falling on the combs. Within 

 this cavity or vault they place a second pillar, which is in 

 some sort only a^ontinuation of the first. This is to 

 serve for a base to the first comb of the cells. These 

 cells are hexagonal, and their aperture is turned down- 

 wards. The mother constructs some of them. As none 

 but females are found in spring, it is probable that they 

 have been fecundated previously to the winter. What 

 is certain is, that the females commence laying as soon 

 as they have constructed a few cells in which to deposit 

 their eggs. These eggs soon disclose the young, and 

 the mother feeds the young larvae which issue from them, 

 with the products of the chase. When the latter have 

 acquired their full growth, they line their cells with silk, 

 arid stop them with a covercle of the same material. 

 Beneath this envelope they undergo their metamor- 

 phoses. They do not come forth from it until they are 

 perfect insects. The wasps which are first born are 

 workers. Analogy leads us to the belief that, as among the 

 bees, they are only females destitute of the ovarise. They 

 are designed for the occupation of constructing the nest, 

 and nursing the larvae. As the female continues to lay, 

 the family increases, and the lodging becomes too small. 

 Then the workers increase the covering and the comb, 

 and when the latter is pushed to the edge of this envelope, 

 they construct another immediately. This last is at- 

 tached to the first by one or many pillars. Speedily the 



VOL. II. 



the fly kind. On each side of the mouth this 

 animal is furnished with a long tooth, notched 

 like a saw, and with these it is enabled to cut 

 any substance, not omitting meat itself, and 



covering is finished, and filled with new combs. Then 

 there remains but a single aperture to the nest. This 

 aperture corresponds to that of the hole which is the gate 

 through which the wasps arrive at their nest. It is 

 often no more than an inch in diameter. 



It is only towards the commencement of autumn that 

 the young females and young males come forth from 

 their nymph state. All the larva; which could not be- 

 come perfect insects until the month of October, usually 

 are put to death before this period, especially when the 

 cold begins to be sensibly perceptible. The wasps, in- 

 stead of continuing to nourish the larvae, are then solely 

 occupied in plucking them out of their cells, and flinging 

 them out of the nest. The nymphs, or pupae, meet with 

 no more mercy. The males and workers are daily 

 perishing, from the growing inclemency of the season ; 

 so that at the end of the winter, none but some females 

 remain, which have passed that season in a state of 

 lethargy, at the bottom of the nest. 



In autumn, males and females are to be met with on 

 trees, from which acid and saccharine fluids exude. 

 They return no more to the nest, and perish miserably 

 on the first approach of cold. Thus invariably finishes 

 this society, whose largest population but little exceeds 

 one hundred, or one hundred and fifty individuals. 



The common wasp makes its nest in the ground, 

 usually at the depth of about half a foot. The entrance 

 to it is a conduit of about an inch in diameter, and very 

 seldom in a straight line. The edges which are at the 

 surface of the earth look as if they were ploughed. 



The most usual form of the vespiary is that of a ball. 

 It is thirteen or fourteen inches in diameter: its envelope 

 is a sort of paper or paste-board, which is sometimes 

 more than an inch in thickness. Its colour is a gray of 

 different shades, disposed in bands. This envelope is 

 rough, and appears formed of pieces, in the form of valves 

 of shells placed one upon the other, so that nothing is 

 seen but their convex exterior. When finished, this 

 envelope has two gates, which are two round holes, 

 through which the wasps enter and go out. The in- 

 terior of the nest is occupied by several combs, parallel, 

 and pretty nearly horizontal: they resemble those of the 

 bees in form, but are composed of a very different 

 material. The vespiary sometimes contains fifteen o; 

 sixteen combs of a diameter proportioned to that of the 

 envelope. All these combs are, as it were, so many 

 floors, disposed in stories, which furnish the means oi 

 lodging a great number of inhabitants. Free passages 

 are left between them. In these intervals are sorts of 

 columns, which serve to support the combs. The foun - 

 dations of the edifice, (if we may use such a solecism) 

 are, at its highest part, for the wasps, unlike other builders, 

 begin their work at the top, and descend as they go on 

 with it: these pillars, formed of the same material as the 

 combs and envelope, are massive ; their base and capital 

 are of greater diameter than the rest. 



These wasps, which work under ground, are concealed 

 from our inspection; they must therefore be drawn, that 

 we may observe the manner in which they construct 

 their nest. When a nest is procured, which is easily 

 done, there is no fear that they will abandon it. It may 

 then be placed under a glass hive, where we can have 

 the pleasure of seeing these insects at their work. 



As soon as they are lodged, they begin by repairing 

 the disorders which the vespiary may have suffered, after 

 having attached it solidly to the hive, and they increase 

 the thickness of its envelope. 



This envelope deserves a description a little more 

 detailed. Its thickness, which is often more than an inch, 

 3x 



