COMMUNAL LIFE 



.vling laboriously through, and in some instances giv- 

 ing up the task and flying away. 



Vespa maculata, building on trees and fences, has 

 practically the same habits as the ground wasp, german- 

 ica, the internal structure of the nest following the same 

 plan, while the outer wall is of a papery substance like 

 that of the combs, made from the scrapings of weather- 

 beaten wood. The genus Polistes builds combs similar 

 to that of Vespa, under porches or in any sheltered place, 

 and does not inclose them. All these wasps, when adult, 

 enjoy fruit and flowers as well as animal food ; but only 

 this last is used for the young, and many a caterpillar 

 creeping along with sinister design is snatched by them 

 to be chewed into a pulpy mass, and then fed to the 

 larvae. No calculation has been made of the value of 

 these wasps in agriculture, and one of the things that 

 farmers have yet to learn is to encourage their presence 

 in orchards and gardens. 



Some species are said to sting the drones and larvae to 

 death at the close of the season, but this habit is not fol- 

 lowed by V. germanica and V. maculata. Since there is 

 no store of provision to be economized through the winter 

 the only object of such conduct would be the merciful 

 one of ending their sufferings at once instead of letting 

 them perish by slow starvation, and we find no evidence 



13 



