THE WASP. 3;j1 



Such is the history of the social wasp ; hut, as among hees> 

 so also among these insects, there are various tribes that live in 

 solitude ; these lay their eggs in a hole for the purpose, and the 

 parent dies long before the birth of its offspring. In the prin- 



is of a flattfined globular fig^ure, and composed of a great number of en. 

 velopes, so as to assume a considerable resemblance to a half-expanded 

 Provence rose. The British specimen mentioned by Kirby and Spence had 

 only one platform of cells ; Reaumur's had two ; but there was a large 

 vacant space, which would probably have beeu filled with cells, had the 

 nest not been taken away as a specimen. The whole nest was not much 

 larger than a rose, and was composed of paper exactly similar to that em- 

 Dloyed by the common ground-wasp. 



" niere is another species of social-wasp meriting attention from the sin. 

 gular construction of its nest. It forms one or more terraces of cells, simi- 

 lar to those of the common wasp, but without the protection of an outer 

 wall, and quite exposed to the weather. S\i'ammerdam found a nest of 

 this description attached to the stem of a nettle. Reaumur says that they 

 are sometimes attached to the branch of a thorn or other shrub, or to stalks 

 of grass ; — peculiarities which prove that there are several species of these 

 wasps. 



" The most remarkable circumstance in the architecture of this species of 

 vespiary is, that it is not horizontal, like those formerly described, but 

 nearly vertical. The reason appears to be, that if it had been horizontal, 

 the cells must have been frequently filled with rain ; whereas, in the posi- 

 tion in which it is placed, the rain runs oft' without lodging. It is, besides, 

 invariably placed so as to face the north or the east, and consequently ia 

 less exposed to rains, which most frequently come with southerly or west- 

 erly winds. It is another remarkable peculiarity, that, unlike the nests of 

 other wasps, it is covered with a shining coat of varnish, to prevent mois. 

 ture from soaking into the texture of the wasp's paper. The laying on this 

 varnish, indeed, forms a considerable portion of the labour of the colony, 

 and individuals may be seen employed for hours together spreading it on 

 with their tongues. 



" Few circiunstances are more striking with regard to insects, as Kirby 

 and Spence justly remark, than the great and incessant labour which mater- 

 nal alfection for their progeny leads them to undergo. Some of these e.x. 

 ertions are so disproportionate to the size of the insect, that nothing short 

 of ocular conviction could attribute them to such an agent. A wild bee, 

 or a wasp, for instance, will dig a hole in a hard bank of earth some inches 

 deep, and five or six times its own size, labouring unremittingly at this ar- 

 duous task for several days in succession, and scarcely allowing itself a 

 moment for eating or repose. It will then occupy as much time in search. 

 ing for a store of food ; and no sooner is this fini-hed, than it will set aliout 

 repeating the process, and before it dies, will have completed five or six 

 similar cells, or even more — A few observatioin may here be pmperly be- 

 stowed upon the material with which the wasp family construct the inte- 

 rior of their nests. 



"The wasp is a paper-m:iker, and a most perfect and intelligent one. 

 While mankind wer" arriving by slow degrees, at thi> art of fabricating 



