COMMON WASPS 



collisions with the glass they spend themselves in vainly 

 trying to fly farther in the direction of the sunshine. 

 There is nothing in the past to teach them what to do. 

 They keep blindly to their familiar habits, and die. 



ii 



SOME OF THEIR HABITS 



If we open the thick envelope of the nest we shall find, 

 inside, a number of combs, or layers of cells, lying one 

 below the other and fastened together by solid pillars. 

 The number of these layers varies. Towards the end of 

 the season there may be ten, or even more. The opening 

 of the cells is on the lower surface. In this strange 

 world the young grow, sleep, and receive their food 

 head downwards. 



The various storeys, or layers of combs, are divided 

 by open spaces; and between the outer envelope and 

 the stack of combs there are doorways through which 

 every part can be easily reached. There is a continual 

 coming and going of nurses, attending to the grubs in 

 the cells. On one side of the outer wrapper is the gate 

 of the city, a modest unadorned opening, lost among 

 the thin scales of the envelope. Facing it is the entrance 

 to the tunnel that leads from the cavity to the world 

 at large. 



