44 NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS. 
much the smallest. In this species, as in V. arborea, 
the black band scarcely reaches beyond the edge of 
the dorsal aspect of the first abdominal rmg. The 
broad yellow dorsal surface is broken by three black 
spots. Of these the central spot is the most con- 
spicuous; it is diamond shaped with the angles 
somewhat rounded off, and extends quite from one 
edge of the rmg to the other. The lateral spots are 
oval, closely attached to the black band, and not 
extending as far as the central one towards the edge 
of the rmg. In the second ring a narrow black band 
appears on the dorsal surface which. rises in the 
middle into a long dome-shaped cusp bulging out at 
the sides. The two lateral spots are round, and 
quite unconnected with the black band. In the 
successive rings the lateral spots stretch out into 
transverse streaks, while the central cusp is thinned 
down into the more usual pole? form, hollowed 
out at the sides. 
The markings of the abdomen of the worker differ 
notably from those of the queen. The diamond 
in the centre of the first abdominal ring is smaller 
in proportion, and the angles sharper; the lateral 
spots are also smaller, and more distant from the 
centre. In the succeeding rings the same sharpness 
of the angles appears, the dome-shaped central 
marking on the second having the outline often 
broken by the projection of a point on either side. 
The markings on the male are still smaller in pro- 
portion than those of the worker, especially those on 
the first abdominal rmg. Their form is intermediate 
between those displayed in the queen and. the 
workers respectively. 
