THE ORIGINAL PAPER-MAKERS 99 



have been known to prey upon the destructive cabbage caterpillar l 

 in the vicinity of Washington and also in Connecticut. Howard, in 

 his "Insect Book," describes their actions as follows: "The wasps 

 would hover above a plant and then alight and walk about it, but 

 finding nothing, would continue to the next plant, and so on to the 

 next. In the sunny center part of the field the cabbage caterpillars 

 were exterminated, but in the shady portions next to a patch of woods, 

 they w r ere present in great numbers. Wasps do not see small objects 

 clearly. They find their prey more by sense of touch than by sense 

 of sight, and as they prefer the sunshine they unconsciously ignored 

 the abundant caterpillars in the shade." 



Kirby has left us the following extraordinary account of the manner 

 in which the workers care for the young and helpless members of the 

 community. These observations apply to the common yellow jacket 

 or hornet, but many of the statements hold true in the case of the 

 paper wasps, although I have not as yet been able to verify them all. 

 "The workers are the most numerous, and to us the only troublesome 

 part of the colony, upon whom devolves the main business of the nest. 

 In the summer and autumnal months, they go forth by myriads into 

 the neighboring country to collect provisions; and on their return to 

 the common den, after reserving a sufficiency for the nutriment of the 

 young brood, they divide the spoil with great impartiality; part 

 being given to the females, part to the males and part to those workers 

 that have been engaged in extending and fortifying the community. 

 This division is voluntarily made, without the slightest symptom of 

 compulsion. Several wasps assemble around each of the returning 

 workers, and receive their respective portions. It is curious and in- 

 teresting to observe their actions upon this occasion. As soon as a 

 wasp that has been filling itself with the juice of fruits, arrives at the 

 nest, it perches upon the top, and upon disgorging a drop of it's sac- 



1 Pontius rapae. 



