354 INSECTS. HYMENOPTERA. 



males, destined to keep up the race by the formation of new colonies, who have pas- 

 sed this season in torpidity. 



The Common Wasp makes its nest in the ground, generally about six inches deep, 

 with an entrance of about an inch in diameter. It is of a circular form and about 

 thirteen inches in diameter. The envelope is of a grayish colour, papyraceous 

 consistence, and sometimes nearly an inch in thickness, with two round holes for en- 

 trances. The interior is occupied by many parallel and nearly horizontal combs, 

 resembling those of the bees in form, but of different material. These combs, to the 

 amount sometimes of fifteen or sixteen, are arranged in stages with intervals between 

 them, and supported in these intervals by a kind of columns. The edifice is begun 

 at the top and increased downwards. The community is formed of males, females, 

 and workers or neuters, the last of which, as among the bees, do all the work. These 

 are continually on the wing in search of food, destroying fruits, provisions, and even 

 carrying smaller insects bodily to their nest. A. nest full of combs generally contains 

 fifteen or sixteen thousand cells, of which each contains an ovum or a pupa ; and 

 the larvae are fed as the small birds feed their young, by the food brought to the hive, 

 after being macerated in the mouth of the mother. About twenty days after the 

 ova have been deposited, the larvae are ready for their metamorphosis into pupae. 

 These, inclosed in their cells, become perfect insects in the course of eight or nine 

 days after, and the cells, then cleared out by the industrious community, are fit for 

 the reception of ova for a new race. Like the Hornets, the greater part of the spe- 

 cies perish in autumn. Some females, destined to perpetuate the species, pass the 

 winter in torpidity ; and in the following spring, each becomes the founder of a new 

 republic, of all the individuals of which she is the mother. The neuters, as being 

 most useful, are first hatched, the males and females not appearing till towards the 

 end of summer and the commencement of autumn. The males are smaller than the 

 females and larger than the neuters, and, like the same class among the bees, are des- 

 titute of a sting. The inflammation and swelling arising from the sting of the wasp 

 is more violent than that produced by the sting of bees. 



V. crabro, Lin. Lat. The Hornet. Antennae obscure, with the 

 base ferruginous ; head ferruginous, pubescent, with the upper 

 lip yellow ; mandibles yellow at the base, and black at the extre- 

 mity ; thorax black, pubescent, with the anterior portion brown- 

 ish ; first segment of the abdomen black, with the base ferrugi- 

 nous, and the margins yellowish ; the other segments black at the 

 base, yellow at the extremity, with a small black lateral point on 

 each; feet brownish, and wings with a reddish tint. About an inch 

 long. Europe, inhabiting hollows in old trees. Shaw, vi. pi. 95. 



V. vulgaris, Lin. The Common Wasp. Antennae and head black, 

 with the upper lip and around the eyes of an obscure yellow ; 

 mandibles yellow, black at the extremity ; thorax black, slightly 

 pubescent, "with a spot before the wings, a callous point at their 

 origin, a spot below and four on the scutellum yellow ; abdomen 

 yellow, with the base of the segments black, and a distinct black 

 point on each side, the first segment with a black lozenge shaped 

 spot in the middle, the spot on the others almost triangular ; feet 

 brownish yellow, with the base of the thighs black. 6 to 9 lines 

 long. Inhabits Europe, living in society, and making its nest 

 under ground. Shaw, vi. pi. 95. 



TRIBE II. MASARIDES, Lat. 



Antennae with from eight to ten joints, and terminated in a 

 rounded button ; labium terminated by two filaments, retir- 

 ing into a tube formed by the base ; two cubital areolae, of 

 which the second receives two recurrent nerves. 



Gen. MASARIS, CELO KITES. 



