214 VESPA, 



scarcely be correct : the cells of the males and females, I believe, 

 only serve for one brood ; I have never traced more than a 

 single lining in these cells. 



There is a point which I have more than once witnessed in 

 the history of Wasps, which does not appear to have been 

 recorded. In the spring I have found as many as three nests 

 in a bank, not more than 200 yards apart ; and on visiting the 

 spot a month or so later, I observed no wasps issuing from 

 the first nest, and on digging into the bank discovered that it 

 was deserted a single empty comb alone remained. I then 

 passed on to the second nest, and was surprised to observe a 

 few wasps come out, each carrying something away ; at length 

 I captured one, and found it was conveying larvae from the 

 nest ; I traced them in their flight, and was astonished to see 

 a wasp enter the third nest with a larva from the nest no. 2 : 

 here then is a mystery which time will unravel, but which I 

 am unable to determine. Were the larvae carried off to be 

 nursed, and so add to the strength of the swarm ; or were they 

 destined to become the food of the larvae in the nest of the free- 

 booter community? I have several times observed that swarms 

 had deserted their nest, but have only once witnessed anything 

 which would in any way account for such a proceeding. 



I have frequently observed a brood of wasps, at the close of 

 autumn, when they are smitten with a consciousness of their 

 inability to feed and rear the young brood in the combs, busily 

 engaged in removing the grubs from the nest ; but I have never 

 witnessed their scattering them about the entrance, as related in 

 Kirby and Spence's ' Introduction' ; on all occasions I have seen 

 them fly off to a considerable distance, each carrying a grub, 

 when they dropped it, and again returned to assist in removing 

 the remainder. Such scenes as are described in the work referred 

 to can only be occasional, induced by some pressing necessity. 



Genus 1. VESPA. 



Vespa, pt., Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 948 (1766). 

 Crabro, pt., Christ. Hym. 217 (1791). 

 Sphex, pt., Sulz. Hist. Ins. (1761). 



The labium short, broad, and deeply notched at the apex, 

 which has two terminal glands; the paraglossae shorter than 

 the labium, each terminating in a gland ; the labial palpi 

 4-jointed, the two basal joints large, of about equal length, the 

 third half the length of the second, the fourth minute ; the 

 maxillary palpi 6-jointed. Clypeus large, its anterior margin 



