CH. V] WASPS 149 



structed : sometimes a few of these are made in a comb 

 which otherwise consists of ordinary cells; usually the 

 lowest comb contains exclusively these larger "royal" cells. 

 I have a curious comb taken from a nest whose bottom 

 had impinged upon a large stone : it was thus impossible 

 for the wasps to add another tier in this direction: ac- 

 cordingly two patches of " royal " cells were added to one 

 of the existing combs, making two protuberances from its 

 previously circular outline. The " royal " cells are destined 

 for the " queens " of the next generation. 



An egg which has been fertilised will in due course 

 produce a female wasp: whether this female be fully 

 developed (a " queen ") or but incompletely so (a "worker") 

 depends upon the amount of food with which the larva is 

 supplied. There appears to be no difference in the quality 

 of the food supplied to royal larvae. In fact when the 

 season is favourable and the workers numerous many of 

 the worker larvae become of greater size in consequence 

 of bountiful supplies of food and become fertile (partheno- 

 genetically). The same phenomenon occurs in nests which 

 have lost their " queen," or in which she has become ex- 

 hausted. In such cases the workers themselves consume 

 the food which in more favourable circumstances would 

 have been distributed among the larvae. Such larvae as 

 there are at the moment of the functional suppression of 

 the "queen" get more bountiful supplies. Hence both these 

 and the younger of the emerged wasps alike become fer- 

 tile 1 . The males (drones) proceed from eggs which have 

 not been fertilised; these are deposited in ordinary cells 

 1 Paul Marchal, Arch, de ZooL Exp. et Gen. (3) iv. 1895. 



