52 



KNOAVLEDGE ♦ 



[Dec. 1, 1885. 



one of the few relics of a past generation. She is, too, 

 a widow, having lost her spouse at the advent of the 

 previous winter, because his constitution, like that of all 

 his compeers, was unable to endure the rigour of the 

 frosty season. His progeny are all posthumous, and even 

 yet his widow is no more than an expectant mother. As 

 she issues from lier winter retreat, the resj)onsibilities of 

 life crowd thick upon her; she finds herself without a 

 home, without a helper ; and yet in a few short weeks 

 she will be surrounded, in a commodioiis retreat, "with 

 hundreds, if not thousands, of her own species, she herself 

 not only their mother, but also tlieii- queen. 



She has no thought of returning to the old home which 

 was the scene of her youth ; that has long since been dis- 

 mantled, and what with winter rains, and the invasion of 

 earwigs, woodlice, and other such barbaric hordes, few 

 traces of it now remain. So, like her mother before her, 

 she has to undertake pioneer life, and to make a clearing 

 for her future colony. Fortunate is she if she can find 

 some hole — a deserted mouse-burrow, or other tiny c.ivern 

 —ready to hand ; much labour of excavating will thus be 

 saved, and she may begin at once to form the nest. But 

 should nature not thus favour her, she must herself set 

 to work, and bj- repeated attacks upon the virgin soil 

 with her powerful jaw.s, gradually hollow out a cavern to 

 hermind. -■ ' - 



She will then "repair to some oaken fence, or row of 

 palings, and with those same useful tools that slie 

 always carries with lier, and that have just done such 

 good service as excavators, she will snip off particles of 

 wood, clinging to the fence all the while, gradually 

 working her way iilong the paling, and leaving behind 

 her a ]iale streak where the thin outer layer of weather- 

 stained wood has been removed. With a bundle of woody- 

 fibres thus collected she flies away home, and working 

 them up into a pulp with a secretion from her own 

 mouth, plasters them out into a greyish material that 

 looks something like crumpled tissue-paper. This is 

 first formed into a kind of stalk, attached at one ]joint to 

 thereof of her cavern — for, unlike most builders, she does 

 not lay her foundations below, but builds from above 

 doTvnwards. At the extremity of this pedicel, three 

 shallow, cup-shaped cells are formed of the same material, 

 and placed vertically, and with mouth downwards ; then 

 a number (jf layers of the same jiaperj' substance are 

 arranged above the cells, so as to form a dome-shaped 

 roof. 



Now there cm be a commencement of egg-laying ; 

 eich cell is furnished with one egg, which is glued to its 

 side. The egg soon hatches, and the footless grub that 

 issues from it is 'said at first to maintain its position in 

 the inverted cell, and prevent itself from falling out of 

 its bed, by a sticky secretion from its own body. The 

 fiVst b^.tch of eggs produce workers, and it is essential 

 for the queen to jjet them through their metamorphoses 

 lia speedily as possible, that she may have assistants to 

 relieve her of some portion of her multifarious duties, 

 which would soon become too onerous for her. 

 ■ 'She has now to collect food for the hungry grubs, 

 which cannot provide for themselves, and are entirely 

 dependent on what she brings them. Sailing forth, she 

 will soon seize a luckless fly or other small insect, whose 

 corpse will be carried home, and doled out to the nest- 

 lings as they are able to receive it, their mother having 

 made a previous mastication of the morsels. They open 

 their little jaws, each armed with three teetb, and the 

 mother puts the food into their mouths much as a bird 

 Would feed her callow brood. Fed several times a day, 

 and fattening on such food, the ugly grubs increase 



rapidly in size, while the mother enlarges their cells as 

 necessity requires, making them hexagonal in their 

 upper part, and raising their walls by the addition of 

 layer upon layer of her building material, till the grubs 

 are ready to slip out of their larval .skin and enter piijja- 

 hood, when her constructive exertions cease, and the 

 larva' have now to look after themselves. 



Each first spins a convex cap of silk, covering the 

 open end of the cell, and then, in the seclusion of tliis 

 snug retreat, shielded from the curious gaze of inquisitive 

 neighbours, the incipient wasp is "unclothed" and 

 "clothed upon." Not many days elapse before the final 

 change occurs, and, in something under a month from the 

 laying of the egg, the perfect insect is ready to join its 

 mother in her exertions for the enlargement of the home 

 — or I'ather to relieve her of them. So batch after batch 

 of workers is produced, and each, as it arrives at maturity, 

 takes its share in the duties of nest-enlargement and 

 feeding the young. 



When one tier of cells has reached its appointed 

 limits, another is commenced beneath and parallel to it, 

 and connected with the former by sundrj- tiny pillars of 

 the same jjo^i/er mitclie. We note here, therefore, three 

 differences between a wasp's comb and that of bees, viz. : 

 I'st, the combs are made of paper instead of wax ; 2nd, 

 they are placed horizontally instead of vertically; and 

 3rd, the cells are formed only on one side of the comb 

 (the lower), instead of both. The number of insects 

 produced cannot be accurately estimated from the 

 number of cells; because several inmates often successively 

 occupy each. It is manifest, therefore, that the popiila- 

 tion of the ne.st, including insects in all stages, is always 

 in excess of the number of cells. 



It is not till qvxite late in the season that the males and 

 females are produced. They are both larger than the 

 worker.s, and therefore occupy in their preliminary stages 

 cells of larger dimensions than those mentioned above, 

 and those of the females are placed in a part of the nest 

 more or less separate from the rest. The males, of 

 course, have no stings, since this organ is but a modified 

 ovipositor, but both females and workers are provided 

 with them. The males, therefore, naay be handled with 

 impunity, and if only one could readily recognise the sex, 

 there would be no he.sitation in handling them. When 

 all three sexes are seen side by side, there is little diffi- 

 culty in separating the males, as their anteimse are longer 

 than those of either of the others ; but as this is a com- 

 parative character, it is not so easy of application when 

 only a single sex is seen. To some people, no doubt, a 

 stingless wasp may seem altogether incredible, and, per- 

 haps, contrary to experience ; but it must be remembered 

 that the majority of the specimens people in general meet 

 with are workers, which regale themselves on our dainties, 

 not for their own delectation only, but chiefly to minister 

 to the wants of the grubs which are their care. The 

 males live only for a short time at the close of the season, 

 and, as they have not the important foraging duties of the 

 workers to perform, they are not so likely to force them- 

 selves on our notice. 



Wasps are easily affected by changes of temperature : 

 as with most insects, cold has a benumbing influence on 

 them, and consequently the first frosts of autumn begin 

 to tell upon their numbers, and before long the whole 

 population perishes with the exception of a few of the 

 females, who manage, in the shelter of some retired spot, 

 such as in moss or under bark, to survive the winter, and 

 upon these hibernated specimens depends entirely the 

 perpetuation of the species from season to season. Since, 

 therefore, they are so dependent on climatic conditions, 



