182 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



honey-bee constructs its comb in the open air we 

 perhaps see a relic of a more general ancestral habit 

 when it once lived in a tropical clime. 



Another conspicuous member of the Vespidcc in 

 the Western Himalaya is Vespa magnificat one of the 

 largest and most powerful of the species. The queens, 

 which fly about early in the season, are ferocious- 

 looking insects ; they are almost an inch and a half in 

 length, of a dark brown colour, with the base of the 

 antenntE a bright orange, and the whole body covered 

 in a silky golden pile. The point of interest in the 

 life of this wasp is the habit it has of making depreda- 

 tions on the hives of the honey-bees. I observed it 

 attacking the swarm on different occasions. The 

 honey-bees, Apis indie a, had settled in a hollow tree. 

 The workers were busy entering and leaving the 

 aperture, and there was an appearance of bustle and 

 energy about the hive. Some of the workers were, as 

 usual, creeping lazily about the opening as though they 

 had no special duties to perform. Suddenly a queen 

 of V. magnifica appeared in the vicinity of the nest. 

 It hovered about the entrance giving utterance to an 

 angry buzz. The workers feared the intruder ; at 

 intervals one of them would dash at it in a vain and 

 timid effort to drive the enemy away. But the Vcspa 

 came in closer to the hive, and after some hesitation 

 made a sudden swoop on one of the more sluggish 

 workers, which it bore away in its jaws. In four 

 minutes it again returned, seized another worker, and 

 this time I distinctly saw it turn forward its abdomen 

 to plunge its sting into the body of its prey. It then 

 made off to a neighbouring branch, where the victim 

 was devoured. A Vespa worker then appeared and 



