INTERRELATIONS OF INSECTS 



329 



and females appear and pairing occurs. Though the statement 

 has often been made that only the young queens survive the 

 winter, there is some reason to believe that not only the queens 

 but also males and workers may hibernate successfully in the 

 nest. 



The larvae are fed at first, by regurgitation, upon the sugary 

 nectar of flowers and the juices of fruits, and later upon more 



FIG. 281. 



Nest of wasp, Vespa maculata. A, outer aspect; B, with envelope cut away to show 

 combs. Greatly reduced. 



substantial food, such as the softer parts of caterpillars, flies, 

 bees, etc., reduced to a pulp by mastication; occasionally wasps 

 steal honey from bees. 



The workers, as is usual among social Hyme.noptera, are 

 modified females, incapable of reproduction as a rule, though 

 the distinction between worker and queen is not nearly so sharp 

 among wasps as it is among bees. Worker eggs are said to 

 be parthenogenetic and to produce only males. The males, 

 unlike those of the honey bee, are active laborers in the colony. 

 In the tropics there are wasps that form permanent colonies, 

 store honey and swarm, after the fashion of honey bees. 



Polistes. The preceding description of Vcspa applies 

 equally well to our several species of Polistes, except that the 



